Mass Effect: Inferno
by Journeyman-93
Summary: Mass Effect 3's story was distressing, for me anyway. This is how I think it should have been. Bear in mind that I use a Paragon Infiltrator who romanced Liara and does good deeds. I hope this is good. Major spoilers, violence, language and sex.
1. The Arrival

_**First off: the action was good, the story was terrible. **_

_**So what if I could change it? **_

_**Well, here goes…**_

"How bad is it?"

What they had chosen to ignore for two years was on their doorstep.

All of the scans showed something large approaching, something unstoppable.

Cold and ruthless. Beings without mercy or compassion.

The Reapers.

* * *

><p><em>In 2157, humanity discovered that it was not alone in the universe. <em>

_Thirty years later, they found a peaceful place among dozens of galactic species. _

_But this idyllic future is overshadowed by a dark past: Reapers, a sentient race of machines responsible for cleansing the galaxy of all organic life very 50,000 years, are about to return. The leaders of the galaxy are paralysed by indecision, unable to accept the legend of the Reapers as a fact. But one soldier has seen the legend come to life._

_And now the fate of the galaxy depends on him._

* * *

><p>He'd been relieved of duty for a while now. That wasn't so bad, but he missed his friends.<p>

Then there was the threat of the Reapers.

Shepard saw the young boy playing with a model ship in the garden below, and it reminded him of when he had been that age. Except he had been fighting for survival even then, on the streets, in a harsh world of gangs and violence.

After spending so much time away from Earth, from home, it seemed more idyllic. Much more beautiful in a way.

Shepard had been keeping quiet over the last few days, his quarters had remained clean and clinical, the shelves of books were neatly organised, he'd had nothing better to do since he'd read them all.

He would have given a lot to see a friend walk through his door and ask him why he was lounging around when there a fight to be fought.

Recently, his thoughts had strayed to Liara. He missed her most of all. Before waking, he always thought that he could feel her skin against his, hear her breathing. But he'd always been dreaming, he'd always been missing her.

Hell, he wouldn't have minded Wrex barging through the door with a bottle of ryncol and a smoking shotgun. Or Garrus using his medals for target practice.

The doors to Shepard's quarters opened, a muscled, tattooed man walked in.

"Commander." James Vega saluted Shepard, he was a good soldier, and respected Shepard. Trouble was; that respect had landed him trouble. Not that he seemed to mind.

"You're not supposed to call me that anymore, James." Shepard stated.

"Not supposed to salute you either." James replied. "We gotta go, the defence committee wants to see you."

"Sounds important." Shepard dropped his datapad on the bed and followed Vega through the corridors.

Everyone was in a hurry, people in Alliance uniform kept bumping into them.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked, he'd been kept out of the loop over the days he'd been here.

"Couldn't say." James answered. "Just told me they needed you, now."

Shepard saw a familiar figure approaching, a good friend too. "Anderson."

James saluted as Anderson shook Shepard's hand. "You look good, Shepard." Anderson said. "Maybe a little soft around the edges." He joked. "How are you holding up since being relieved of duty?"

"It's not so bad once you get used to the hot food and soft beds." Shepard was half joking, half honest. He was a soldier, he was used to being on the frontlines, but he'd been fighting for a while now. A rest was a welcome break, or it would have been if the galaxy wasn't under threat. Again.

"We'll get it sorted out." Anderson reassured him as they walked.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked, dreading one of the potential answers. "Why's everyone in such a hurry?"

"Admiral Hackett's mobilising the fleets." Anderson explained. "I'm guessing word's made it to Alliance Command, something _big _is headed our way."

Shepard paused, the penny had dropped, with a terrible realisation.

"The Reapers?" He wondered aloud.

"We don't know," Anderson treated Shepard's words as a question. "Not for certain."

"What else could it be?" As much as he didn't want it to be true, Shepard had to face the likely, albeit painful truth.

The Reapers were coming, and why not Earth? Shepard, a human, had foiled all of their plans so far, the Reapers were cunning, they knew that humanity was a threat.

"If I knew that…" Anderson left the sentence hanging, ominously.

"You know we're not ready if it is them," Shepard told him. "Not by a long shot."

"Tell that to the defence committee."

Shepard jogged up the stairs to catch up. "Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death," he said bluntly, "the committee is a waste of time."

"They're just scared." Anderson reasoned, avoiding yet more hurrying Alliance staff on the way down the next corridor. "None of them have seen what you've seen." He pointed out. "You've faced down the Reapers. Hell, you _spoke _to one, then blew the damn thing up."

Sort of, that had been part of Joker's handiwork, a torpedo through the hull of Sovereign. Its shields had fallen after Shepard had killed the turian Spectre, Saren.

Or rather, what he had become, a mindless husk and a skeletal terror that resembled a turian. It had been a fearsome battle to reclaim the Citadel.

One Reaper had decimated the Citadel fleets. What could a fleet of them do?

"You've seen how they harvest us." Anderson continued. "What they plan to do to us. You know more about this enemy than anyone."

Shepard felt a brief spurt of anger, a reason for why he was here. "That why they grounded me?" He asked angrily. "Took away my ship?"

"You know that's not true." Anderson argued, they had stopped again. The bustling people just continued to hurry past them, as if they were oblivious to them. No doubt they had seen Anderson and Shepard before, and knew their heroic reputations, but they were too busy to notice.

"When you blew up the batarian relay hundreds of thousands of batarians died." Anderson explained firmly.

"It was that or let the Reapers walk through our back door." Shepard argued.

It had been one of the hardest choices of his life. The lives of three hundred thousand people had been under his fingers. The hard choice between letting the Reapers into the galaxy, or sacrificing several thousand batarians, they were no friends of humanity, but that didn't make what Shepard had done any better.

"I know that, Shepard." Anderson said. "And so does the committee. If it wasn't for that, you'd have been court-martialled and left to rot in the brig."

"That, and your good word?" Shepard added.

"Yeah," Anderson confirmed. "I trust you, Shepard." That felt good to hear, without his squad, Anderson was the one familiar face that Shepard was often pleased to see, and he still trusted Shepard. It was good to have a little faith on his side.

"And so does the committee." Anderson told him, Shepard believed that less, but they had to at least believe some parts of his story. After all, it had been the Alliance fleet that had saved the Destiny Ascension and destroyed Sovereign.

"I'm just a solider, Anderson." Shepard stated. "I'm no politician."

"I don't need you to be either." Anderson started walking again, Shepard followed him briskly. "I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to stop the Reapers."

They entered the reception and waiting area for the committee, the doors slid open noiselessly.

A woman holding a datapad turned to them. "They're expecting you two, Admiral." She told Anderson calmly, despite the people rushing around, acting calm, panicking on the inside. Shepard knew that Anderson had stepped down from his position as a Council member. The military role suited him, Shepard supposed.

James knew that he could go no further, the committee didn't want to see him.

"Good luck in there, Shepard." He shook Shepard's hand.

Anderson meanwhile, had seen someone he and Shepard knew.

Ashley Williams had changed since Shepard had last seen her. She had become a high ranking soldier. She had also physically changed, she had let her hair down and grow longer, and was wearing a different outfit. Anderson still remembered the day she had come onboard the Normandy SR1, after the fire fight on Eden Prime, when this mess had begun with Saren and the geth under his command.

"Anderson." She nodded. She noticed Shepard talking to Vega over Anderson's shoulder. "Shepard!" She called, not quite able to contain herself. They had been good friends, that friendship had been strained when she had seen Shepard working for Cerberus. But she couldn't have dismissed him completely, no matter how hard she tried, even if she wanted to.

Besides, he had disobeyed Cerberus and had angered the Illusive Man.

"Ashley?" Shepard was surprised to see her, he approached cautiously.

"Lieutenant Commander, how'd it go in there?" Anderson asked.

"I can never tell with them," Ashley remarked. "I'm just waiting for orders now."

"Lieutenant Commander?" Shepard asked.

"You didn't hear?" Anderson raised his eyebrows.

"I'm a little out of the loop." Shepard explained.

"Admiral." The woman from the desk had returned, she looked like she was pressed for time, they all were.

"Come on." Anderson walked ahead quickly, Shepard followed him.

James walked up beside Ashley, watching Anderson and Shepard leave.

"You know the Commander?" He inquired.

"I used to." Ashley murmured sadly.

* * *

><p>For some reason, the first thing that Shepard noticed was the large floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city. The semi circular desk in front of the window had three senior Alliance officers seated behind it.<p>

Staff were arrayed along the sides, monitoring news traffic and fleet movements.

There was a sense of foreboding and desperation in the room.

"Admiral Anderson," one of them greeted the two arrivals. "Shepard."

Shepard decided to get down to business, waiting annoyed him. "What's the situation?" He asked as calmly as he could.

"We were hoping you would tell us."

"The reports coming in are," the Councillor faltered, she was disturbed. "Unlike anything we've seen." She explained. "Whole colonies have gone dark, we've lost contact with _everything _beyond the Sol relay."

A man walked over and handed Shepard a datapad. He quickly read it over.

But he knew what it all meant.

"Whatever this is, it's incomprehensibly powerful." The Councillor in the middle added.

Shepard lowered the datapad. "You brought me here to confirm what you already know." He paused, trying not to show the fear. "The Reapers are here."

There was a brief show of dismay around the room.

"Then…" The female Councillor began. "How do we stop them?"

"Stop them?" Shepard echoed. "This isn't about strategy or tactics, this is about survival." He stepped forwards, his certainty made him confident, but part of him was screaming. "The Reapers are more advanced than we are, more powerful, more intelligent." Those were the simple facts of the matter, Shepard wasn't going to give them false hope. "They don't fear us, and they'll never take pity on us."

"But…" The female Councillor was fearful. "There must be some way…"

What to say now? Shepard thought briefly and knew. His squad had helped him face down Sovereign, another one had helped him to destroy the Collectors, that was the proof that gave him strength.

They had to stand together, strength in unity.

"If we're going to have any chance of surviving this we have to stand together." He announced firmly, the authority of command still adding weight to his voice.

"That's it?" The Councillor in the middle might have been asking for miracles. "That's our plan?" He demanded.

"Admiral," the woman from earlier spoke up again. "We've lost contact with Luna base."

"The moon?" Anderson was startled. "They couldn't be that close already."

"How'd they get past our defences?" The female Councillor asked shakily.

"Sir, UK headquarters has a visual." The woman brought the image up to the screen behind them.

No…

The squid like ships, massive leviathans of metal, were descending on London. Their weapons carved through buildings like a sword through flesh. Grotesque creatures, Husks, charged through the streets.

Then the images changed, San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge in flames. Bejing, Berlin, Washington DC...

They were all over the world.

"Why haven't we heard from Admiral Hackett?" Anderson breathed.

"What do we do?" The middle Councillor asked Shepard.

"The only thing we can," Shepard strode forwards again. "We fight or we die!" He answered with steel in his voice.

"We should get to the Normandy." Anderson told Shepard quietly.

Then, the thunderclap resounded through the room, throughout the entire city.

The Councillors turned reluctantly, as if doing so made it all real.

"Oh my God!" The female Councillor whispered, awestruck and terrified.

The Reaper descended through the swirling clouds. A lance of red energy flashed.

"Move!" Shepard shouted, running with Anderson for the exit. "Go, go, go!"

The windows shattered. The desk flew, flinging the Councillors away.

Shepard ducked under the flying wreckage. As it slammed into the doors, cutting off their escape.

The next blast sent Shepard flying into a bench, his ears ringing with a high pitched whine. All the sounds had become dull and toneless, the sound of a Reaper's beam firing was still audible.

Shepard could feel pain flaring through his skull, blood on his skin.

_These could be our last moments together…_

Unbidden, a memory of Liara came to his mind, would she be the last thought that he had?

He hoped she was.

"Shepard!" Anderson pulled Shepard to his feet. The once grand council room was now burnt and wrecked. Charred bodies were everywhere.

The committee was over, the Councillors were all dead.

"Come on, get up." Anderson steadied his friend. "Here, take this." He handed Shepard a Predator handgun. "We've got to get moving."

"This is Admiral Anderson, report in, anyone." Anderson spoke into his radio as Shepard checked one of the bodies. He needn't have bothered, the man's body was burnt and blackened, still hot from the blast.

"Commander Williams, is that you?" Anderson tried. "What's your status?" They walked up the shattered windows. "I can't raise the Normandy," Anderson continued, "you'll have to contact them. We'll meet you at the landing zone. Anderson out."

Shepard could see the fiery trails of Reapers ploughing through the atmosphere.

There were thousands of them, hundred of thousands. A nigh invincible fleet of dreadnaught sized ships, all of them sentient, all of them bent on destruction.

They jumped down, into ground zero.

* * *

><p>"They're massive!" Anderson gasped, seeing a Reaper pick its way through a city block. "Come on Shepard, Ashley's headed to the Normandy. They'll pick us up if we can get to the spaceport. Let's move!"<p>

They hurried along the beams. "God, how did we let this happen!" Anderson wondered aloud. He saw the red beam slicing through the metal ahead of them. "Look out!"

Shepard covered his eyes as the beam cut through into the building, causing an explosion that shook them.

"How do you stop something so powerful?" Anderson asked.

Shepard wished he had an answer.

They carried on, leaping over a burning gap in the gantry and making their way to a habitation block.

"Lieutenant Commander, you read me?" Anderson was talking into his radio again. "I'm patching in Shepard."

Shepard heard Ashley's voice crackle in his ear. "We're almost at the Normandy," she sounded breathless, and Shepard could hear gunfire in the background. "I've got Lieutenant Vega with me, but we're taking heavy fire."

Shepard felt his guts churn when he saw something that looked vaguely human scaling the building ahead. Their grey flesh was dotted with blue lights and painful looking cybernetics.

Husks. They had been humans, now they were monsters.

"Husks!" Anderson shouted, raising his pistol. "Take them out."

The radio broke up into garbled static. "Say again, Commander?" Anderson tried. "Damn it!" He swore when he received no response, they were being jammed.

Shepard and Anderson took down several of the Husks, who seemed to be too busy to care, only to deplete their thermal clips.

Shepard followed Anderson down the ladder, wary of the Husks that could come back and rip them apart.

There were more of them, climbing over the balcony and attacking the windows of the house ahead.

"Have to take these things out the old fashioned way." Anderson remarked.

Shepard vaulted over the wall and grabbed the nearest Husk's head, slamming into the window. The skull cracked, splattering thick fluid over the window.

One of the Husks hissed with a sickly rasp and charged at Shepard. He responded by bashing in its skull with the butt of his pistol.

Another lance of energy from a Reaper flared.

Shepard ducked as it tore through the apartment and blew out the windows and doors.

At least they had a way in. The apartment was on fire, the furniture was burnt and scattered across the floor.

The door ahead was malfunctioning. Shepard walked across to pry it open.

A withered, clawed arm shot through the door, another Husk.

No ammo, and Shepard was dubious about punching the Husk.

But he still had his omni-tool. It had recently been upgraded with a melee weapon. Shepard snarled and brought the weapon flaring into life, severing the Husk's head from its shoulders. The body fell back limply, fluid spurting from its neck.

Safe for now, Shepard pushed the doors open. "Through this way." He called to Anderson, waiting for the Admiral to squeeze through.

There was a dull thud from inside the apartment.

Shepard let the door go and looked around again.

The vent was open. He could hear short, sharp, scared breaths from within.

"Hey." Shepard called softly.

Shepard knelt down. The young boy he had seen playing was inside the vent.

He was terrified, his parents had likely been killed when the Reapers had landed.

"It's okay," he tried to reassure the child.

The boy crawled back further, his face was streaked with tears. "Everyone's dying." He despaired.

Shepard reached into the vent, then turned as he heard a Reaper advancing through the city. He turned back, the boy was moving away again.

"Come here," he said gently, "I need to get you someplace safe. Take my hand."

The boy shook his head. "You can't help me." He stated sadly.

"Shepard." Anderson called, Shepard looked away from the vent. "In here." Anderson had got the doors to stay open.

Shepard looked back into the vent. But the boy had gone.

It pained Shepard, but there was nothing he could do now.

He followed Anderson. The Admiral stopped to lift some wreckage.

He groaned in frustration. "This is a goddamn mess!" He was angry, that was much was evident. "Every minute these machines are here, thousands of innocent people die." He ducked and went under the wreckage. "I won't be responsible."

"It's hard enough fighting a war," Shepard understood how Anderson felt. "But it's worse knowing that no matter how hard you try, you can't save them all."

"Exactly." Anderson agreed. "They hit so fast, thought we'd have more time."

"We knew they were coming."

"And they still just cut through our defences." Anderson and Shepard were almost clear of the wreckage.

"We need to go to the Citadel." Anderson announced. "Talk to the Council."

"The Citadel?" Shepard was dubious, who could blame him, the Council had never believed in the threat of the Reapers, even when one had attacked the Citadel right before their very eyes. "The fight's here." Shepard stated.

"It'll be everywhere soon enough." Anderson pointed out. "You said it yourself. The Reapers will destroy everything if we don't stop them." Anderson grunted as he made his way through the twisted metal and broken ceramics. "The Council _has _to help us."

"You sure about that?" Shepard asked, they had reached a narrow ledge, the floor had fallen away. They would have to hug the wall to avoid falling to their deaths.

"No, but you're a Council Spectre" Anderson explained, "That has to count for something."

There was an explosion, the building shook and Shepard stumbled.

"Gotcha!" Anderson grabbed Shepard and steadied him.

"Thanks, I owe you one." Shepard told his old friend gratefully.

"More than one." Anderson added.

They reached better ground, and some thermal clips. They took the opportunity to reload.

They were using another walkway on the side of the building.

The Reapers were burning the waterfront, one of them landed in the river, the water barely came up to the tips of its arms.

"Lieutenant Commander Williams," Anderson tried his radio again. "We're in sight of the spaceport. ETA: three minutes."

"We made it to the Normandy," Ashley sounded a little panicked, not a good sign. "Taking heavy fire." She paused. "Oh God! They're gonna take down that dreadnaught."

Shepard caught sight of the ship, dreadnaughts were the biggest and deadliest ships any organic race had, but the Reaper's beams were slicing through it effortlessly, whilst the cannons of the dreadnaught were barely scratching the Reaper's shields.

There was a sudden flare of light, the dreadnaught's core had blown.

The shockwave slammed Shepard into some wreckage.

He slipped and tumbled, finding himself sliding down the sloped wall of the building.

He hit the ground, groaning with the pain. He was lucky that he hadn't broken anything.

Anderson must have ended up sliding down too, he was by Shepard's side again.

"Normandy, we're going to reroute, do you copy?" Anderson spoke into his radio.

Only static answered. "Normandy, come in!" Anderson tried in vain. He spotted something down below. "Friendlies."

Shepard saw the blue uniforms of two soldiers down below. A gunship was half buried in what was left of the port, it had been shot down.

They jumped down to the soldiers. "You two alright?" Shepard asked. One of them had his legs stuck under a large piece of debris.

The other one looked up. "Get down!" He told them urgently. "They'll see you!"

Shepard turned to see something large approaching.

He'd thought that the Collectors were ugly. It looked like the Reapers had made Husks out of batarians. They had the four eyed skull of a batarian, but their bodies were bloated and sickly brown. Their right arms had been turned into guns.

Shepard and Anderson ducked behind cover as the Husks fired their weapons.

Luckily, there weren't many of them, the fire fight was brief.

"Shepard," Anderson called, "over here." He was crouched next to the two soldiers. "What happened here?" He inquired.

"Our gunship was shot down." One of them explained. "We barely made it."

"You have a radio?" Anderson asked. "We're trying to contact our ship."

"No, there's one in the gunship." The pilot said. "But it's going to be crawling with those _things_."

"Stay here, son." Anderson told the soldier as he and Shepard took hold of the wreckage. "We'll get you out of here." They lifted it off the other man's legs. His comrade dragged him away. Shepard and Anderson dropped it down again. It made a good enough bridge for them to cross over to the crashed gunship.

They crossed over. Something flew over on leathery wings, screeching and chasing after another gunship. It looked like a Harvester, only the Reapers had mutated that too.

The encountered more batarian Husks. Shepard saw one consume the remains of a fallen Husk to heal its wounds. Cannibal would have been an appropriate name.

Finally, they found the radio. Anderson started it up as Shepard grabbed an Avenger assault rifle and checked its ammo.

"Normandy, this is Anderson. Do you read?" Anderson adjusted the radio.

"Admiral, what's your location?" Ashley asked.

"By a downed gunship in the harbour." Anderson answered. "I'm activating this distress beacon." He pressed some buttons to turn it on. "Send support, we've got wounded down here."

Once again, garbled static answered.

"Lieutenant?" Anderson pressed more buttons.

More confused static.

"Damn it!" Anderson swore. "Lost the signal."

"Let's hope that beacon does its job." Shepard grimaced.

Anderson looked up, spotting flaming objects hurtling towards the harbour.

"And fast." He added. "We've got company."

The fireballs slammed into the harbour, to their dismay, they carried more of those Cannibals. The Husks roared with their mechanical, sickly voices and fired at them.

Shepard ducked down and sent a hail of bullets their way, punching holes through three of them.

But more of them came.

The Avenger was running low on thermal clips. He fired in bursts, trying to save ammo, aiming for where he hoped vital parts were, if they had any.

Thirty rounds, twenty five.

"Hope they get here soon." Anderson shouted as he reloaded.

"You and me both." Shepard shouted back, he was on his last clip.

The assault rifle bleeped and the barrel glowed red hot. Damn, no more clips.

Shepard drew his pistol and fired that at the Husks, but that was running low too.

It suddenly reminded him of holding off three mercenary bands with Garrus on Omega, he really could have done with the turian's help now.

There was another explosion, only this time, it wasn't more Husks.

A familiar noise, a high pitched whine, filled their ears.

"Cavalry's here, gentlemen!" The Normandy hailed them, firing missiles at the Husks below.

It had never looked so good, here in the nick of time.

"About time!" Anderson shouted.

Shepard ran, vaulting over the wreckage and climbing up to the Normandy.

He leapt onto the ramp, Ashley pulled him onboard.

"Welcome back, Shepard." She raised her assault rifle to scan the harbour.

Anderson was near the ramp, but wasn't trying to get onboard.

"Shepard." He called.

"Come on." Shepard answered, a shuttle flew towards the harbour and opened its doors.

Anderson watched it for a moment. "I'm not going." Seeing Shepard's dismay, he pointed back at the harbour. "You saw those men back there. There's a million more like them and they need a leader."

"We're in this fight together, Anderson." Shepard argued, Anderson knew that he was probably about to jump back off the Normandy.

"It's a fight we can't win," Anderson reasoned. "Not without help. We need every species, and all their ships to even have a _chance _of defeating the Reapers."

Shepard was still hesitant, so Anderson continued. "Talk to the Council, convince them to help us."

"What if they won't listen?"

"Then _make _them listen!" Anderson ordered. "Now go, that's an order!"

"I don't take orders from you anymore," Shepard protested, "remember?"

Anderson plucked Shepard's dog tags from his pocket and threw them to him.

"Consider yourself reinstated, _Commander_." Anderson stood back. "You know what you have to do."

"I'll be back for you, and I'll bring every fleet I can." Shepard vowed. He turned back for a moment. "Good luck."

"You too, Shepard."

The Normandy lifted off, leaving Anderson behind.

Two shuttles swooped in to pick up wounded and civilians.

Alliance soldiers bravely tried to hold of the Reapers and their infantry, but they were heavily outmatched, and they knew it. They didn't try to run.

Shepard saw a familiar face below, the boy who had hidden in the vent.

As he made his way to the shuttle, a four legged, smaller Reaper appeared.

It opened up some panels on the front, revealing its main weapon.

The boy stared and scrambled onto the shuttle.

Shepard hoped that he made it, but he could see that the chance were slim. He realised that he was holding his breath.

The two shuttles lifted off, there was hope.

The Reaper trained its cannon on them.

The two shuttles were torn apart by the lance fired by the merciless machine.

Shepard winced and turned away. The ramp closed as the Normandy sped away from the carnage.

This war had just become even more personal.

Earth was burning, burning hope with it.

But whatever happened; the Reapers would pay.


	2. Old friends and foes

Shepard strode down the shuttle bay with Vega in tow. Vega was pissed off to put it bluntly.

"Hey, where are we going?" He demanded.

Shepard didn't stop.

"Hey!" Vega shouted.

"To the Citadel." Shepard responded, picking up a Mantis sniper rifle from the workbench and examining it. "We need to talk to the Council."

"Bullshit!" James exclaimed. "Anderson wouldn't want this."

"He ordered us to." Ashley explained.

"So we're just fucking leaving?" Vega yelled. "We're just…"

"Enough!" Shepard rounded on Vega. "You think that I want to leave?" He demanded, adrenaline adding heat to his words. "If you want to go back, then catch a ship from the Citadel."

James promptly shut his trap, seeing that Shepard had won this round.

"Commander?" Joker's voice crackled through the intercom.

"Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Alive and kicking," the pilot confirmed. "Admiral Hackett has a message for you."

Ashley activated the nearest terminal, the image was grainy and lagging, maybe Hackett's com-array had been hit.

"Commander Shepard?" The voice had gone tinny with interference.

"Admiral Hackett, I'm here." Shepard confirmed.

"Good, the Reapers blew past us, half of my fleet is gone."

"We're heading to the Citadel," Shepard told him. "To get help."

"Not so fast," Hackett responded, "I need you to go to Mars, a research team there has apparently found something."

"Something?" James echoed.

"Something that could help us to defeat the Reapers." Hackett explained. "You need to get to Mars before the Reapers take over the system."

Shepard saluted, hoping that Hackett could see it. "Yes sir."

"Good luck, Shepard." Hackett reached across, the image crackled, to turn off the com'. "Hackett out."

* * *

><p>Joker took them to Mars with the stealth drives activated. At least they still worked, if they didn't then a Reaper would be slicing them to pieces soon.<p>

"Thirty seconds to Mars." Joker informed them. "Hah, sounds like a band or something."

The Kodiak shuttle took off and sped towards the dusty red surface of Mars, the god of war seemed to be angry, a massive storm of dust was heading for the facility. The facility itself was a cylindrical building that went into the ground.

The shuttle landed on the far side, kicking up a cloud of dust as the doors opened. The three humans had their helmets sealed. Shepard was wearing his N7 armour, Ashley had her modified blue armour. Vega had gone for set of heavy Defender armour, it suited him.

Shepard took the lead, pulling out the Mantis sniper rifle he'd picked up on the Normandy. He had used a Viper during his time with Cerberus, but the Normandy only had a few basic arms at the moment.

"Hold up," he ordered. "Casualties." The Alliance soldier had been shot, and was dead too. He'd been that way for a while, slumped against the truck with a bullet in his chest.

"Sgt Reeves." Ashley scanned him with her omni-tool. "He didn't put up a fight."

"Something is _very _wrong here." James stated, understatement of the month.

As they rounded the corner, Shepard heard gunfire.

Ahead, a group of soldiers in white armour with yellow patterns and black helmets were striding around.

One of them pointed a pistol at the head of a kneeling Alliance marine. Without hesitation, he put a round through the marine's head.

"Holy shit!" Vega exclaimed.

Shepard lifted his rifle and took aim at the executioner. The rifle slammed against his shoulder as it spat a high velocity slug at the trooper.

The trooper's head disintegrated into a bloody mess, the bullet carried on and punched a hole into the next man's chest.

"Gamma squad, hostiles at grid forty!" One of the troopers barked.

The Alliance soldiers slipped into cover, Shepard leant round the rock he was behind and picked off another trooper. Ashley fired a controlled burst from her Avenger, mowing down two more troopers. James lobbed a grenade, taking out the last three enemies and making a mess of them.

"Those were Cerberus troops?" He spotted the insignia on a nearby rover.

"Sure looks like it." Shepard agreed.

"What are they doing here?" Ashley asked, suspicious.

"How should I know?" Shepard shrugged before moving ahead, rifle raised.

They took out another group of soldiers before entering the base.

"There's not many of them," James observed,

"Only a few trucks." Shepard agreed.

"They must have had help." James concluded.

"No way you'd take this base without anything less than a full battalion." Ashley stated as they entered the lift. "Shepard, I need the truth."

Shepard turned, expression difficult to read under his helmet. "Truth?"

"About Cerberus," Ashley glared pointedly at him. "Are you still working with them?"

"Ash…"

"Tell me, Commander." Ashley demanded flatly.

"We worked together to stop the Collectors, that's it." He told her. "I haven't had any contact with them since I destroyed the Collector base."

"Shepard's been under constant surveillance since coming back to Earth." James agreed. "No way they've communicated since."

Ashley shook her head. "Sorry, Commander. I…" She was interrupted by the sudden hiss as the airlock adjusted and vented in atmosphere. They removed their helmets as the lift began to rise.

"You know me better than most, Ash." Shepard was angry with the accusations, he'd hated working for Cerberus. "Please, just trust me."

The lift clanked and stopped in the garage. They moved out, but stopped suddenly when they heard some noises. A sort of loud, echoing thump. Accompanied by the sound of rifle fire.

Shepard ordered them into cover and readied his sniper rifle, aiming at the vent running across the ceiling.

The panel shot out of its frame and a figure dropped out. Two Cerberus troopers squeezed out after the survivor, their armour making it difficult.

A vortex ripped them out and spun them helplessly into the air. Biotics.

Shepard heard a handgun fire, the white armoured survivor advanced on the fallen troops and shot them twice.

When she turned, Shepard could hardly believe it.

"Liara!" He shouted.

The asari turned, looking just as surprised. "Shepard!" She cried, running over and wrapping her arms around him.

Ashley reached across and lowered James' rifle. "Easy LT, she's on our side."

"Thank the Goddess you're alive." Liara breathed. "When I heard about Earth… I'm so sorry." She meant it, she'd always been caring.

"Yeah," Ashley agreed. "It was hard to leave."

"I'm sorry, Ashley." Liara nodded. "What are you doing here?" Shepard smirked, she'd always been curious too.

"Hackett ordered us to come." He told her. "Said you'd found something that could stop the Reapers."

Liara lowered her eyes for a second, she was doubtful. "We found something, the Protheans were working on something during the last days of their war with the Reapers." She told them, leading them over to the window. "Hackett wanted a weapon, but the truth is, there wasn't one."

"So we're fucked." James shrugged, gaining a pointed glance from Shepard. "Sorry Commander." He checked himself.

"The Protheans might have found _something _though." Liara pointed out. "A way to stop the Reapers, a weakness."

"If it can help us stop the Reapers," Shepard nodded, "then we have to find it."

A hissing sound spat across the garage, Cerberus troopers, they were cutting through one of the doors on the balcony.

"Cerberus has found us." Liara checked her weapon.

"Bring it on." James growled.

"Not this time." Shepard told him. "I need you to secure the shuttle, keep our exit safe."

"Commander…"

"Now, Lieutenant." Shepard ordered firmly. Vega surrendered and took the lift back down.

The rest of them took cover. The Cerberus troops were about to cut through.

The doors hissed open and the white and yellow armoured troopers entered. "There's the asari bitch." One of them announced, firing his weapon.

The air thrummed, Liara's singularity snagged three of the troopers and left them dangling in the air. Shepard and Ashley picked them off quickly before turning on the last two troopers.

"You haven't lost your touch, Shepard." Liara stated. Shepard noticed that she'd been carrying something in a satchel for a while now. She opened it and pulled out an object. "I was going to visit you on Earth and give this to you."

Shepard took the object, it unfolded in his hands. It was a long rifle, it had the N7 insignia on the casing. He'd heard about the new N7 Valkyrie, a burst firing rifle, his kind of weapon.

"Thanks, Liara." He smiled at her. "I'll put it to good use."

They had to improvise to reach the balconies, Cerberus had sabotaged the lift. Shepard used a maintenance lift to create a bridge. After crossing, Ashley reverted to suspicious mode.

"So how did Cerberus get in here?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." Liara shrugged. "One minute we heard that Earth was under attack, the next, we were under attack. Didn't know it was Cerberus at first."

"Could they be working with the Reapers?"

"Doubtful." Shepard grunted. "But anything's possible."

They moved through the facility, killing any Cerberus troops they ran into. It was disturbing, they'd raised something of an army this quickly. They'd run into elite officers and soldiers with unique weapons and defences.

The Illusive Man must have been busy ever since the Collector base had been blown up.

They reached the checkpoint that would unlock what Liara referred to as pedway. Shepard began to work on opening the way forwards as Liara checked security feeds.

"I can't get any live feeds." She told them.

"Who's that?" Ashley pointed at a monitor that showed a woman running past.

"That's Doctor Eva Core." Liara said. "She came here about a week ago."

"Pedway's locked out." Shepard stated, even he couldn't hack the controls, which was worrying.

Liara searched for an alternative. "There's construction work," she realised. "We can go around." She unlocked the doors on the right side of the room.

* * *

><p>The storm was becoming even fiercer. Shepard could hear it as they equipped helmets and stepped out of the airlock. It would hit the facility soon.<p>

"What the hell?" Ashley pointed at a long tunnel leading to the main facility.

"That tramway leads to the archives." Liara told her.

"The Alliance is still putting up a fight." Shepard observed, he could see gunfire being exchanged between the two trams.

They had to hurry, Shepard led them quickly up to the airlock that would take them back onto pedway.

"This airlock shouldn't be open." Liara sounded uneasy.

"Doesn't look like it was forced." Ashley stated.

"You'd need to open it from security." Liara agreed.

Shepard flicked on his flashlight and took the lead. There were bodies everywhere, Cerberus must have opened the airlock with the researchers still inside.

"This is brutal." Liara grimaced. "Even by Cerberus standards."

Shepard ducked back and a table as he heard voices nearby. "Flashlights." He whispered, the squad turned them off.

There were Cerberus soldiers outside, they knew that Shepard and his squad were inside the cafeteria. They weren't leaving either.

To hell with patience.

Shepard raised his rifle and put two rounds through a trooper's head. They had the advantages of surprise and experience, the Cerberus troops didn't last long.

They entered the next checkpoint, where Liara sealed the airlock and vented atmosphere back into the area. The place didn't look like it had been taken by force. There were few bullet holes in the walls and not a lot of blood.

"Hang on, I've found security footage." She flicked the switches and the panels on the wall showed a recording from the security room. An Alliance marine was fretting about some sort of malfunction as Doctor Eva Core walked into the room.

Without hesitation, she lifted a handgun and shot both marines before hacking into a console and opening the airlock.

Liara was shocked. She hadn't expected this, and now she realised why the name was so familiar. Eva Core had died a long time ago, during the First Contact War.

"I should have expected this." She muttered, feeling like a failure.

"You can't blame yourself." Shepard put a hand on her shoulder.

"How can you be like this?" Liara turned round, suddenly desperate to know what had kept Shepard going all these years. Through the blood, chaos and bitter odds. "How can you keep going?"

"I have something to live for." He stroked her cheek. "I made you a promise."

Liara half smiled, she hadn't realised that Shepard had been serious about that.

"Time and place you two." Ashley muttered.

* * *

><p>The labs had been cleared out a while ago, Cerberus had activated the decontamination protocols with the staff still inside. That was the least of their problems though.<p>

Down the hallway, guarding the tram station, was a four barrelled heavy gun turret.

"Oh shit!" Ashley swore as she ducked into cover.

"No kidding." Shepard muttered.

"Stay close, I'll draw its fire." Ashley moved ahead, sprinting to cover. As the turret tracked her, Shepard and Liara moved up and into cover.

The turret was automated, it didn't have a brain behind its controls. Therefore, it was tracking the nearest target.

Ashley kept distracting it, covering Shepard and Liara. They reached the edge of the walkway, now they were close enough.

Shepard lobbed a sticky grenade over the crate he was behind, hitting the turret. The explosion didn't destroy it, but it blew away some of the armour.

Liara took advantage of the exposed workings and ripped them out with a biotic pull. The turret whirred and fell silent.

Cerberus troops, realising that the turret was down, ran out to meet them, only to be mowed down in a coordinated fire fight. Shepard really hadn't lost his edge.

The tram station was theirs, now they had a way into the archives.

_**Yeah, no super-weapon. Because that spoils everything. I have a cunning plan, as Baldrick would say. This will follow the story of ME3, but only loosely, very loosely. **_


	3. A glimmer of hope

"They've locked down the controls." Liara groaned, Cerberus had done their homework.

More security footage rolled across the monitors, this time it was live.

Doctor Core was walking with a Cerberus officer, giving him orders.

"Shut down the tram station," she ordered, "no one is to cross."

"We still have men over there." The officer argued.

"No one else!" Core growled. She raised her pistol suddenly. "And shut down those cameras." The footage broke up into static, she'd just shot the camera.

"So we can't use the trams." Shepard folded his arms.

"Maybe we can fool them into sending one back," Ashley suggested. "We could use a short range transmitter, helmet to helmet."

"And then what?"

"Convince them that we're on their side," Ashley explained, "and that we've taken care of Alliance forces on this side."

Shepard nodded, Ashley went off in search of a radio. He noticed that Liara was watching him. "What?" He asked.

"The Lieutenant-Commander has become very competent." Liara stated.

"That she has." Shepard agreed as he left. He noticed that Liara stared after him, was she jealous or something?

Surely she knew that he loved her and no one else?

He'd just have to convince her. It had been a while since they'd last seen each other, but he still cared about her, more than anything else.

"Found something." Ashley told him. "If I can just open…" The Cerberus helmet opened, Ashley gasped, horrified.

The man's face had been changed. His skin had gone a pale grey and his eyes were electric blue implants ripped into his skin.

"My God!" Ashley breathed. "He looks like a Husk."

"Yes, but not all the way." Shepard knelt down and plucked the radio from the man's helmet.

"They did this to their people?" Ashley continued. "For all I know, they did the same to you."

"How can you compare me to that thing?" Shepard asked. He sighed and shook his head. "Look, I'm not turning into a Husk or obeying the Illusive Man. We can debate that later." He lifted the radio and turned it on. "Hello, this is… Delta team."

"Where the hell have you been?" A grating voice demanded.

"We've dealt with the Alliance forces on this side," Shepard bluffed, "send the tram over for extraction."

"Roger that," the grating voice accepted. "Echo team will ride over."

Shepard turned the radio off and threw it away.

"Do you think they bought it?" Ashley asked.

"If they didn't then they'll figure it out soon." Shepard pulled out his rifle. He sent Liara and Ashley to flank them, he'd provide sniper support.

* * *

><p>Echo team arrived, their armoured soldiers clanked out of the tram and began to fan out.<p>

A grenade landed in the middle of them, those not quick enough to escape were torn apart. A biotic attack hurled two of them into the open, Shepard picked them off.

Ashley launched a volley of slugs from her position, mowing down the rest.

Now they had a tram to the archives. Liara fired it up after Shepard and Ashley had entered.

"Cerberus is putting up a fight." Ashley commented.

"It confirms the value of the research here." Liara said. "That it could turn the tide in our favour."

The tram slid across the rails towards the next station. Dust was pelting against it, the storm was getting even closer. Soon it would envelop the facility.

"Get down." Shepard ordered as they approached the station. The doors opened to allow the tram inside, with the squad in cover, it looked like nobody was inside.

The Cerberus troopers lowered their weapons. Big mistake.

The squad opened fire on them, mowing them down. Now they were clear. More of the Cerberus troops had implants now, they looked similar to Husks. The Illusive Man was going to far, but it could have explained why he had an army all of a sudden. If he was working for the Reapers, then he had indoctrination at his disposal.

* * *

><p>The archives were not what Shepard had expected. A Prothean obelisk, pale stone and green lights, dominated the chamber. It reminded him of the beacon that had showed him the Reapers.<p>

"Ashley, check the perimeter." Shepard told her. Ashley nodded and began to walk around the chamber with her rifle raised.

"Liara, grab the data." They both walked up to the obelisk. Liara had the access codes, she began to search for the data they needed.

Behind Shepard, a hologram activated. A man wearing a black suit with silvery hair and glowing blue eyes. He was smoking a cigarette, as usual.

"Commander Shepard." He announced. Liara spun round and aimed her gun at the hologram, the Illusive Man raised his eyebrows.

"Illusive Man." Shepard responded. "What do want?" His voice was laden with acid.

"What I've always wanted." The Illusive Man gestured at the archives. "A way to enact my solution."

"I've seen your solution, you're turning people into monsters." Shepard growled.

"I am merely creating the next level of _human evolution_," the Illusive Man argued. "The Reapers and their technology can make humanity dominant."

"The Reapers are attacking Earth, and you want to make nice with them?"

"You were always short sighted." The Illusive Man stated. "You proved that when you destroyed the Collector base. It would have been a treasure trove of valuable information."

"I destroyed the base because they butchered hundreds of thousands of people there," Shepard snarled. "I did the right thing."

"So you say." The Illusive Man responded. "But you can't win this fight."

"Then help me." Shepard retorted. "Help Earth to destroy the Reapers."

"You might do better than most," the Illusive Man admitted, "but the odds are not in your favour."

"Enough talk." Shepard had lost his patience. "Liara, get the data."

"Don't interfere with my plans, Shepard." The Illusive Man warned. "You will lose."

"Shepard!" Liara called. "The data is gone!"

The Illusive Man sat down in his chair, confident and relaxed. "Like the rest of the relics in this place, your time is over." He murmured. "Goodbye, Shepard."

"Where's it gone?" Shepard was frustrated.

"It's being uploaded from a local source." Liara told him.

Ashley rounded the corner, looking into a control booth.

Someone was inside, the Cerberus agent.

"Freeze!" Ashley demanded. "Step away from the console."

The woman lashed out suddenly, catching Ashley in the stomach before ramming her omni-tool into the console, stealing the data.

Shepard and Liara saw her run and gave chase. The operative was smart and very athletic, she leapt into a vent to escape them.

Shepard blew out the window tram station control booth with his rifle and jumped through the hole. At least they still had their helmets on, the operative put on a breath mask and jumped up onto the roof.

Shepard followed, avoiding the shots fired at him. "James, do you read me?" He shouted. "A Cerberus operative has the data."

Static answered him, the storm was interfering with their radios. Dust was whipping around the facility and was making it hard to see. Shepard was struggling to keep up with the wind and dust slamming into him.

A Cerberus shuttle was keeping up with the operative, two soldiers were firing at Shepard. Ashley responded by firing her assault rifle at the shuttle, forcing it to veer off.

Shepard chased the operative onto the landing pad, with Liara and Ashley behind him.

They were too late though, the operative had just jumped onto the Cerberus shuttle.

"Hold on," James' voice crackled into their radios. "I've got this one."

The cannons on the Alliance shuttle boomed and the rounds ripped into the Cerberus shuttle.

Shepard realised that Vega was being reckless. A little too late.

The Alliance shuttle rammed into the Cerberus shuttle, spinning it round and knocking it out of the sky.

Shepard threw himself clear, Liara followed suit. Vega landed the shuttle badly too, at an angle. Shepard made a mental note to never let James fly anything again.

The shuttle door opened and Vega hopped out, looking pleased with himself. "Normandy's on it's way." He announced cheerfully.

"Don't do that again." Shepard groaned.

Liara had gone round to help Ashley back onto her feet.

"I will die having seen their light." Someone murmured.

Ashley jolted suddenly and cried out. Liara spun round and pulled out her pistol.

Eva Core was barely alive, her left arm was missing and her left side was torn and bloody. Liara could see cybernetics under her skin, where an eye had come out, she could see circuitry.

Liara fired at the creature, hitting it in the chest. Core ran at Liara, turning her omni-tool into a blade.

Liara fired again and again, barely halting the woman. She took aim again.

Eva Core fell back with a hole in her head, oil and blood exploded out of the back of her skull.

"Liara?" Shepard called. "Ashley?"

"She's hurt," Liara responded, a little panicked. "She's been shot!"

Vega crouched down next to Ashley. "Seals are active, she's got oxygen." He stated. "She's alive."

"Get her onto the Normandy." Shepard ordered.

Liara took the omni-tool from the dead Cerberus agent as the Normandy approached. She ran onto the ship, which took off as soon as they were aboard.

"We've got Reapers coming in." Joker announced over the intercom. "We've gotta get out of here."

"Do it." Shepard told him as he and Vega carried Ashley to the infirmary. Liara couldn't help but feel guilty as they stepped into the lift.

If she'd noticed sooner…

She followed them into the infirmary and watched as they laid Ashley onto the nearest bed. She was bleeding profusely, Vega grabbed some medi-gel to seal the wound.

"Ashley needs medical attention." He pointed out.

"I know." Shepard answered.

"We need to take her to the Citadel." Liara added. "They can help her."

"Commander," Joker's voice crackled. "Admiral Hackett wants to speak to you."

"I'm on it, Joker." The Commander jogged off to the communications room, Liara followed him, no doubt Hackett wanted to see what they had.

* * *

><p>The holographic display had been improved, EDI cleared up the interference.<p>

"Commander," Hackett nodded. "I hope you managed to find something."

"Cerberus attacked the facility," Shepard told him, "he has some intel."

"I was afraid that Cerberus would try something." Hackett sighed. "What did you find?"

Liara activated her omni-tool, reams of Prothean glyphs appeared over it. "There was no weapon, but the Protheans had plans for something." She explained. "They managed to capture a Reaper and were analysing it, they found something. But they were too late."

"What _exactly _did you find?"

"I think they found a weakness." Liara told him, uncertainly.

"It's better than nothing." Hackett surmised.

"We're heading to the Citadel, Ashley Williams has been injured." Shepard informed Hackett. "We'll send you the data, let us know if you find anything."

"Will do, Commander." Hackett nodded. "Hackett out." The hologram closed down.

Liara sighed as they entered the war room. "What if we're wrong?" She wondered aloud.

"About what?" Shepard asked.

"The data, the war against the Reapers?" Liara suggested. "Everything we've fought for, what if we can't win?"

Shepard put his arm around her shoulders. "We can try, at least." He told her. "There's always a way."

Liara nodded. "If you say so." She agreed. "But we still need help."

Shepard considered. "Anderson was right." He murmured. "We're going to need every species and their fleets to have a chance. Better than no chance anyway."

Shepard activate the terminal. From the looks of it, the Reapers were spreading out and attacking several planets.

The fight was going to be bloody, but at least they had hope.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I think that the robot agent thing was too much like something from Terminator or Alien, so I just went for an indoctrinated cyborg, makes sense to me anyway. Just so you know, gunfights aren't my speciality, but I am better at the emotional stuff. I'm going to go more in depth for this story, show how Shepard feels and what his past felt like. Anyway, hope you're all enjoying this, don't forget to send reviews.<strong>_


	4. Regrets

_**I have noticed that many You-Tube and Fanfiction members are unhappy with ME3, if you know any of them, then let them know about this story. There will be sad bits but I intend to make this much better than ME3's story. Perhaps this can inspire them to make their own stories, I just hope that this makes everyone happy.**_

_**Please review, I know I'm getting a lot of hits, but some words of encouragement couldn't hurt.**_

* * *

><p>The Normandy was approaching the Citadel. The five arms, the Wards, were open as if they were greeting the Normandy.<p>

Shepard remembered coming here the first time, to the see the Council. He'd ended up crashing a Mako inside, convinced a rogue Spectre to stop working for the Reapers and had helped to destroy a Reaper and save the Council.

They'd only been grateful once, they'd ignored Shepard's warnings about the Reapers and Collectors. Now they had to face the truth, because there was no denying it this time.

The Normandy docked on the Presidium, their need was urgent. Joker had informed them before arriving, medics were waiting for Ashley. They put her on a stretcher and hurried off with her, to Heurta Memorial hospital, the best on the Citadel.

"We're not going with?" James asked, seeing that Shepard had stopped.

"We've got to see the Council." Liara explained.

"Looks like they're coming to see you."

Shepard turned round to see a familiar figure approaching him.

"Commander Shepard," Bailey, head of C-Sec, had met and helped Shepard before. "Good to see you again."

"You too, Captain Bailey." Shepard shook his hand.

"Eh, it's Commander now." Bailey explained.

"Congratulations?" Shepard suggested.

"If you want." Bailey shrugged. "Half my job is escorting dignitaries and dealing with political bullshit." He explained. "No offence."

"None taken, I understand."

"The Council's getting ready," Bailey told Shepard. "You'll have time to visit your friend if you want."

"I'll do that." Shepard nodded.

"I'll come with you." Liara added. She still felt guilty about what had happened on Mars. She followed him down to the hospital whilst Vega went to the council meeting. Vega was no diplomat, but Shepard didn't care for politics.

* * *

><p>Shepard found Ashley's room and entered with Liara. Ash was in a bad way, the bullet had left fragments of armour in her body, and removing them was going to be hard.<p>

"I don't know if you can hear me." Shepard began, falteringly. "But I hope you can. We're going to need you, Ash." He told her. "Hang in there, soldier."

Liara felt upset seeing this, and she still felt that she was responsible. She reached out and held Ashley's hand. "I'm sorry." She sniffled. "I should have…"

Shepard put his arm around her shoulders, she leant her head against his. "Don't blame yourself, Liara." He said gently. "These things happen."

Liara turned her face towards his. He leant towards her.

"Can I help you?" Someone asked, the moment was broken. A Doctor was hovering in the doorway, holding a datapad.

Shepard shook his head. "No." He answered. "Let me know if you need anything."

They took the lift up to the embassies. It was a long way to go, and Shepard wanted to talk.

"Something's bothering you, Liara." He stated. "Ever since Mars."

Liara hung her head for a moment. "All this." She answered. "Chaos, and then you return."

"That's a bad thing?"

"No," Liara replied quickly, she'd never been much good at this. "It's just… we've both changed, so much has changed since…"

"Liara," Shepard stopped her. "I still feel the same way about you."

She looked up at him with those startling blue eyes. "Do you really?"

"Yes." Shepard was being honest, there'd never been anyone but Liara to love in his case. Being an Infiltrator had suited him, because he was used to being alone.

But things had changed, since Eden Prime. Especially Therum. To take someone into his confidence, to support each other, it had been something new and wonderful.

To love someone…

Love had never been something that lasted in the slums of Earth. Love had never been wise in the Alliance.

But then he'd met Liara, and everything had changed.

But he had learned one thing since then, even if it was short, it was worth it.

The doors opened, they had arrived. The Citadel always seemed to change whenever Shepard visited it. He knew that the Keepers had a habit of moving things around, but they seemed to alter entire Wards and areas inexplicably.

Shepard and Liara followed the signs to Udina's office. The Ambassador had never seen eye to eye with Anderson or Shepard, but hopefully the past wouldn't matter right now.

Udina wasn't in his office, his assistant took them to the Council meeting.

Shepard knew that it wouldn't go well.

"We can't send any help right now." The salarian Councillor was telling Udina.

"But Earth was the first Council world to be hit." Udina argued.

Vega shook his head, not noticing Shepard and Liara approaching.

"The reports are true." Shepard announced. "The Reapers have attacked Earth."

"Not just Earth." The asari Councillor told them, at least they were admitting that the Reapers were real now. "The Reapers are attacking our worlds too."

"We need your help." Shepard insisted. "Everything you can spare."

"We simply _cannot _do that." The asari Councillor wasn't budging.

"At least _help _Earth." Vega argued.

"We have a chance too." Liara showed them the Prothean data. "The Protheans might have found a weakness in the Reapers, a weakness that can help us."

"Then why didn't the Protheans use it?" The turian Councillor asked arrogantly. "It obviously did not work."

"They did not have enough time." Liara explained. "But we do."

"The Alliance is already analysing the data." Shepard added. "If we work together, we can beat them."

The Councillors exchanged looks, a subtle shake of the head.

"We must face the hard truth," the asari Councillor told them, not sounding sorry at all. "Whilst the Reapers are attacking Earth, we can prepare to defend our worlds."

"Damn it!" Liara hissed.

"So you're going to do _nothing_?" James bellowed.

The Councillors ignored him, never mind Earth, they only cared about themselves.

"Shepard." Udina called, sounding exasperated. "Come an meet me in my office."

"I hope that's an offer of support." Liara murmured.

* * *

><p>Udina was in a foul mood, and hitting the bottle for the first time since Shepard had met him.<p>

"Those fools only care about themselves." He snarled, sitting down heavily behind his desk. "We'll never get help from them."

"I know we've not seen eye to eye on most matters." Shepard admitted. "But you're right."

"That data," Udina leaned forwards. "Can it really help us?"

"Perhaps, but we need to decipher it." Shepard told him. "The Protheans apparently captured a Reaper before they were wiped out, they studied it."

"Huh!" Udina scoffed. "Didn't do them much good."

Liara scowled at him. Shepard knew that she thought quite highly of the Protheans.

"Commander?" The turian Councillor had entered the room. "There is something you can do. Our Primarch, Fedorian, is under threat." He explained. "Out intelligence suggests that he was taken to Palaven's largest moon."

"You've only told me how I can help you." Shepard pointed out.

"If you were to help, then you would have a grateful Primarch on your side." The Councillor explained. "Also, the Council wanted me to tell you, we've chosen to uphold your Spectre status."

"Thank you, Councillor." Shepard wasn't that happy, but it couldn't hurt to accept the offer.

Udina scoffed again when the Councillor left. "Are you really going to help him?"

"It's our only chance, Udina." Shepard said firmly. "So yes, we're going to Palaven."

* * *

><p>The Normandy would take a few hours to reach Palaven. Shepard wanted to talk to Liara, but she wanted to be alone for some reason. He decided to sleep, he needed it.<p>

_The trees were all around, echoing with laughter. A child's laughter. _

_Shepard stepped forwards, his movements felt slow. Leaves fell around him, the trees seemed to go on forever, all of them tall and thin with few leaves. _

_There he was. The boy he couldn't save. _

_Perhaps he could now, for some reason he felt that he had to. _

_Shepard moved as fast as he could, but his movements were still sluggish. _

_A harsh, blaring sound thundered throughout the forest, a Reaper. Red light flashed. _

_The boy ran, the laughter turned to crying. _

_Shepard ran after him, trying to find him, the one bright spot in the gloomy forest. _

_The boy stood up as he approached. Shepard reached out to take his hand. _

_The boy just stood there as the flames roared into life around him. _

_Shepard could only watch, terrified as… he saw another figure, burning alive too…_

He woke up, sweating and shaking. Damn it, he needed to see a psychiatrist.

Shepard left his cabin, he was surprised to find Liara outside. "Liara? Can I help you?"

"Are you alright?" She deflected the question, seeing that Shepard was not himself.

"I didn't exactly get a good night's sleep." He admitted.

Liara looked sympathetic, she still cared, perhaps she wasn't ready to re-enter a relationship.

"Commander?" A woman asked. "Sorry, I didn't realise that you had company."

Liara looked like she wanted to say something, but she gave up. "I was just leaving."

The Alliance crew member shrugged. "I'm Officer Traynor." She introduced herself. "I'm here to give you a virtual tour of the ship." She held out her datapad. Shepard wanted to be left alone, but Traynor started to list off the areas of the ship and he did his best to remain interested. Traynor left after she'd finishing showing him the retrofits.

Shepard had nothing to do until they reached Palaven. Sleep wasn't going to be easy.

Instead, he took the lift down to the armoury to check his gear.

"Hey, Commander." James called, whilst exercising. "You gonna keep in shape?"

"Maybe later, James." Shepard shrugged.

"What's up, Commander?" Great, everyone could tell that he was in a bad way.

"Just a bad night." Shepard grimaced.

"I know the feeling." Vega sat down and opened a can of beer. "Since Earth… nothing's been easy."

Shepard sat down next to him. "It's not just Earth that worries me."

"Ashley?" He asked.

"Slightly, but she'll tough it out." Shepard took the offered can of beer, what the hell, it couldn't make things worse. "I warned them, and they didn't listen. Now look at what's happened."

Vega nodded. "You get that everywhere." He muttered. "Still, you've got Liara to talk to." Shepard glanced at him and he shrugged. "Joker's got a big mouth." He explained.

Shepard sighed. "She worries me too." He admitted.

"Just give it time, Commander." James finished his beer. "She'll come around again."

_Yeah, I hope so. _Shepard thought to himself. _It's not just Earth I'm fighting for._

_**So maybe I should have put this into the romance category, but I've decided to explore the relationship between Shepard and Liara too. This story will also explore Shepard's background, I hope you all like these ideas. Please review, I hope to get some views and thoughts. **_


	5. Deadly reunion

_**Thank you all for your support. I shall give this as much as I can. There may be sad bits, but this can't all be sunshine and flowers, as they "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs". Otherwise, this will not be as bad as the official story.**_

_**I swear that Bioware has been indoctrinated.**_

_**Keep sending the reviews and such, I'm happy to keep this up.**_

* * *

><p>Turian ships were among the best in the galaxy, but they were up against Reapers.<p>

The Reapers were slicing the ships to pieces, carving through shields like butter. Turian fighters clashed with Oculus drones and smaller Reapers.

Behind the Reaper fleet, Palaven was burning, like Earth.

The Kodiak was far away from the battle, but they could see the devastation.

"Oh no," Liara breathed, "Palaven."

"We have a friend there." Shepard murmured.

The moon loomed up to greet them. It was much larger than Luna, but just as grey. Except this one was on fire too, Reapers were attacking it too.

The shuttle shuddered as they neared the landing zone, Shepard could hear gunfire pinging off the hull.

"The LZ is swarming with them." The pilot explained.

"Open the doors." Shepard ordered, grabbing his sniper rifle.

There were Cannibals waiting at the LZ, along with…

He thought he'd destroyed them already, but there they were. Collectors.

The ugly insectoids chattered with clicking sounds and began to fire.

Shepard couldn't see any seeker swarms, perhaps these were the last Collectors that the Reapers had. Or they could still clone them, but had lost everything else when the Collector station had blown up.

Shepard took cover behind the door and began to take out as many Reaper thralls as he could, he just hoped that a Reaper didn't possess any of the Collectors.

As the landing zone began to empty, the shuttle started to lower, kicking up a cloud of grey dust.

The Reapers were here in force, Shepard could see several of them in the distance, attacking turian bases.

The three of them followed the path into a turian outpost. It had seen much better days. The few structures left were riddled with bullets and there were full body bags everywhere. At the far end, a turian soldier was firing a heavy turret, snipers were running around to provide support. At the other end was an airfield, fighters were landing and taking off. Every time a squadron returned, they had lost more fighters.

"Sergeant Bathus, secure the com' tower." A turian in red armour was ordering another turian. It looked like the red armoured one was the one in charge.

"Are you in charge here?" Shepard asked the turian.

"Commander Shepard?" The turian recognised him. "General Conrinthus, yes, I'm in charge of this outpost."

"I'm here to find Primarch Fedorian."

Corinthus lowered his head for a moment, that didn't bode well. "Primarch Fedorian is dead." He managed. "His shuttle was shot down yesterday."

"I'm sorry." Shepard told him. "I hear he was a good man."

"And a friend." Conrinthus added. "The least I can do is wait to hear of a successor and point you in his direction." He paused. "But I need the com' tower repaired to do that."

"We'll take care of it." Shepard knew that the turian would have asked him to do it, he always seemed to end up doing the hard tasks.

"I'd appreciate it Commander." The turian accepted. "Good luck."

* * *

><p>The com' tower was on visible over the ridge, surrounded by Cannibals and Husks. Turian soldiers were already fighting them, but they had sustained heavy losses.<p>

The squad dropped into cover and began to open fire. Liara used her biotics to kill or make the Husks vulnerable. Shepard deployed his tech on larger groups, incinerating a couple of Cannibals with his omni-tool. Vega settled for taking them out the old fashioned way, with a big gun.

The Husks were quickly overwhelmed through teamwork, they were powerful and frightening, but they weren't especially bright.

Shepard activated the com' tower's panel, only to receive error messages and instructions on fixing the problem.

"We can't fix it from this panel." He explained. "James, head up and see if you can fix it."

"Alright." James put his rifle away. "Might take me a while though." He climbed up the ladder and began to fiddle with the circuitry.

Shepard heard more sickly roaring, more Husks. "You ready for this?"

"Ready." Liara nodded, reloading her SMG.

The Husks charged, Shepard and Liara began to mow them down, but there were many of them.

Shepard saw the Husk on his right too late as it leapt towards him.

The Husk shot back suddenly, a trail of sticky fluid following a bullet out of its skull.

A couple of turian snipers were covering them. Shepard didn't have time to acknowledge them, he had to keep fighting.

Vega jumped down from the tower and opened fire on the Husks. "It's on!" He shouted.

Three turian fighters swept over them and bombarded the Reaper infantry with their cannons, ripping them apart. "We've got you covered, Commander." One of them hailed the squad. "Head back to the outpost, we'll deal with the rest."

* * *

><p>"We've been communicating with Palaven." Corinthus told them as they returned. "As your partner said: <em>succession is usually easy<em>. They've picked a new Primarch, the problem is that he's behind enemy lines."

"So how do we find him?" Shepard asked.

"I'm on it, Shepard." A turian soldier, one of the snipers, removed his helmet. "We'll find that Primarch." His scars had healed, but they still showed. Of course, he still had the custom visor.

"Garrus?" Liara exclaimed.

"Vakarian, Sir?" Corinthus saluted. "I didn't see you there."

"At ease." Garrus told him, this was new, he'd gone up in the ranks. "They've selected General Victus as the new Primarch."

"Victus?" Liara repeated. "His name's crossed my desk."

"He's a skilled tactician, although he doesn't tend to do things by the book." Garrus added. "Bit like us really."

"When did you last see Victus?" Shepard asked.

"We fought together this morning." Garrus answered. "I can…"

"Incoming Harvester!" James shouted, firing at the gargantuan monster as it flew over. It circled over the airfield and dropped something off.

"We'd better take care of that." Shepard stated. "James, keep the outpost secure." He turned back for a moment. "Garrus, you coming?"

Garrus checked his sniper rifle. "Are you kidding?" He laughed. "I'm with you."

The three of them sprinted to the airfield, it was good to have Garrus with them again, he was good friend and brilliant marksman.

Several turian fighters were waiting for repairs on the field, and at first, nothing seemed to be wrong.

Until one of the fighters exploded, sending twisted metal flying and nearly giving Shepard an unwanted haircut.

Husks began to appear, only these ones looked like turians and were carrying long rifles. They were also, unlike the Cannibals, deadly accurate.

Not as accurate as Garrus though, who picked off two of them with flawless headshots. Liara couldn't help but notice that this seemed to have turned into a competition between Garrus and Shepard, they were both expert snipers.

"That's two." Shepard called.

"I'm on five, Shepard." Garrus responded. "Try to keep up."

Liara hurled a singularity at the largest group, catching them in its wake and hurling them over the cliff. "Seven." She shouted.

"Cheat!" Garrus shook his head and reloaded his rifle.

"Keep up then." Liara shouted back.

Garrus muttered something about making a rulebook as he raised his rifle and took out another Husk. Shepard was putting the Valkyrie to good use, ever since he'd attached a scope to it, it had become his preferred assault rifle.

The Harvester didn't come back, but there was more bad news to come.

"Shepard, it's Vega." James contacted him via radio. "Shit-load of Husks attacking the base, we need you up here."

"On it." Shepard acknowledged. "Back to the outpost!"

* * *

><p>Shepard clambered up the ladder and took over the gun turret. The operator had been ripped apart by a Husk. Vega was already there, holding them off.<p>

Shepard fired in controlled bursts, the turret was a little slow but it wasn't lacking in firepower.

"Yeah, I'm going for three at a time!" Vega whooped, firing his assault rifle into a group of Cannibals. "Like fish in a barrel!"

"What?" Garrus shouted.

"An old human saying," Vega explained, "like fish in a barrel."

Garrus crouched down and lobbed a proximity mine in front of a large group, blowing them to pieces. He'd learnt a few tricks since fighting the Collectors.

The assault seemed to be endless, the turret was coming to close to an overheat and it was running out of thermal clips.

Something crashed into the ground, roaring as it unfurled.

"Holy crap!" Vega shouted. "What is that thing?"

It was a good question. The thing had the skull of a turian, creepily similar to how Saren had ended up, and the body of a krogan. A big one too.

It charged, Shepard couldn't track it fast enough with the turret. It rammed into the barricade.

Shepard stumbled and fell forwards, behind the creature.

It turned and roared, beating its chest. It would have been laughably similar to King Kong, except the old vid didn't want to kill the audience.

Bullets pinged off the creature's armour and it turned to find the source of the annoyance.

Vega was running down the nearest slop, firing his rifle at it. Garrus jumped down behind it and helped Shepard back onto his feet. Liara began to fire too, distracting the creature again, long enough for Shepard and Garrus to get some distance between them and it.

They both fired their rifles at it, but the creature was heavily armoured and the bullets just dented its thick plates.

Vega jumped out its way as it charged, even Liara's biotics were having little effect.

"Garrus, put a mine there." Shepard pointed at the spot. "I'm going to draw its attention."

"You're mad, Shepard." Garrus grimaced.

Shepard didn't bother to debate that, he moved out of cover and fired the Valkyrie at the creature. "Hey, ugly!" He shouted. "Over here!"

The creature turned and growled, it charged at Shepard, arm in front of it like a shield.

Shepard moved back into cover as the creature stepped on the mine. It was hurled forwards at greater speed, head first into the rocks that Shepard and Garrus were behind.

There was sickening crunch and oily fluid spurted over the rocks. The creature had crushed its head against the rocks.

"You are insane." Garrus remarked.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"How did you know that _would _work?"

"I didn't."

"Like I said, you're insane."

They stood up, checking their surroundings. Liara and James were fine, Vega put his boot down on the creature's back and fired his rifle into its back.

"Garrus," Shepard wiped the dirt and blood off his arm. "Can you take us to where you last saw Victus?"

"Follow me." Garrus reloaded his sniper rifle and led them along the passes.

* * *

><p>It was eerily quiet, but they could hear Reapers and ships firing.<p>

Palaven burned above them.

"Look at Palaven." Garrus said bitterly. "See that blazing spot, the big one, that's where I was born." He was just as angry as Shepard and James, seeing his home burn.

"Got family there?" James asked.

"My dad, a sister." Garrus replied.

"How bad is it?"

"Three million dead in the first day," Garrus replied with a hint of anger, "five the next."

"Husks!" Liara warned them, the creatures were behind them. Garrus turned and pulled out the Vindicator he was carrying, this was close range now. A Husk leapt for Shepard, but he was ready this time, he cut it in half with his omni-blade.

"Those creepy bastards are all over New York?" Vega shivered when the Husks were dead. "Shit! I should never have left Earth."

"But you're asking Victus to do the same here." Garrus told him.

They continued to follow Garrus through the harsh grey passes. Above them, an Oculus chased down a turian fighter and shot it down. The fighter nearly crashed on top of the squad.

Reapers were still advancing across the moon, seeking out life to eradicate.

They saw trails of fire plummeting into the outpost ahead of them.

"Double time it!" Shepard began to sprint. "No Reaper's taking this Primarch from me."

The outpost was in chaos. Dead turians were everywhere, the remaining soldiers had shut themselves in the prefab bunkers and were holding their ground.

Collectors and Husks were attacking the camp, including some of those krogan creatures that James had dubbed "Brutes", this was going to be tricky.

"Garrus, can you get some fighters up here?" Shepard called.

"I can try." Garrus shouted back.

"Do it." Shepard ducked into cover and riddled a Collector with bullets. Liara dropped into cover beside him and reloaded the Tempest she'd recovered. At least it was a better gun than the Shuriken.

The turians knew that support had come, but they were still outnumbered, seeing the turian Husks only added to their fear.

"Hold out, men!" A red armoured turian, Victus, rallied his soldiers. "For Palaven!"

Shepard and his team advanced, cutting down more Reaper infantry and making for the end of the camp. They had to get out of the way before the fighters arrived.

It became a mad dash firing weapons left and right to reach the end. Liara pulled out her pistol with her left hand and began to fire it, along with the Tempest in her right hand. Shepard charged across the camp firing his Valkyrie one handed, omni-blade out on his other arm, slashing at any Husk that came too close. Vega produced his shotgun and began to blast enemies out of his way, Garrus continued to fire his Vindicator with deadly accuracy as he ran.

The fighters came in, heading towards them. Their cannons fired, lighting up the space behind the squad with thunderous explosions, incinerating the remaining Husks and Collectors.

Shepard turned back, they'd all made it. It was hard to believe that they had.

Adrenaline was still racing through his system, like it had back on Elysium.

Except he'd been on his own then, he had a good squad now.

"Cut that one close." Garrus panted.

"I told you," James grinned, "you need to stay in shape, Commander."

"I thought you were lagging, Lieutenant." Shepard chuckled.

"That certainly looked cool though," James put his shotgun away, "did anyway get a recording?"

The ramp of the nearest bunker opened, Victus stepped out, ejecting the spent thermal clip from his assault rifle. "Commander Shepard," he nodded, "never expected to see you here." He noticed Garrus standing next to Shepard. "Where did you go?"

"Heavy Reaper unit on the right flank," Garrus reminded him, "I believe your exact words were: _get that thing the hell off my men_."

"I appreciate that." Victus turned back to Shepard. "What brings you here, Commander?"

"We need your help." Shepard told him. "Primarch Fedorian is dead."

Victus hung his head for a second. "I heard." He stated.

"Palaven command told us," Garrus explained, "that you're the new Primarch."

Victus was stunned, he was silent for a few moments. "I'm the Primarch of Palaven?" He looked at the burning planet. "I'm not ideal." He admitted. "I hate politics."

"You sound perfect." Shepard folded his arms. "We need men and women of action in these times."

Victus was still unsure of himself. "Give a moment to say goodbye to my men."

Shepard and his squad moved back to give him some space.

Garrus pointed at a Reaper in the distance. "They expect me to know how to take that thing down." He muttered darkly. "We both think that we're not the right people for this. I'm a failed C-Sec officer, vigilante and now an _advisor_. I know hardly anything about stopping a Reaper."

"You seem to be doing well." Shepard assured him. "You helped me to kill that human Reaper."

"It wasn't finished."

"It still counts." Shepard shrugged. "What will you do now?"

Garrus considered, but only briefly. "I'll go with you." He answered. "Just like old times, but with more at stake. Again."

Shepard nodded, smiling. "Welcome aboard Garrus." He shook the turian's hand. "Again." He turned back to Victus. "Primarch Victus," he called, "are you ready?"

Victus turned, suddenly looking transformed, like the leader they needed him to be. "Yes." He answered. "But we're going to need more to take back Palaven. We need the krogan."


	6. Something worth dying for

_**For those who are worrying about me dithering, I'm only putting in significant missions, like Rannoch, side quests will only get mentioned now and then. Just so you know, I will be adding new bits to the plot, might as well get **_**every **_**race into the fight.**_

* * *

><p>"Commander, we simply cannot condone this." The asari Councillor argued. "To say that the salarian Dalatrass is upset would be an understatement."<p>

"Madam Councillor," Shepard resisted the urge to get angry, "some of these issues are centuries old, it's time to let them go."

"I'm sorry, Commander." The Councillor said, not sorry at all. "All we can do is wish you luck on your mission."

The hologram shut down, Garrus snorted. "Still the same old Council." He shrugged. "You're right though, they need to put these issues aside for the good of the galaxy."

Shepard's morals seemed to have rubbed off on Garrus, since he'd stopped him from killing a traitor in cold blood.

"You're a Spectre, Shepard." Garrus reminded him. "Maybe you could do this without approval."

"That might cause more trouble." Shepard sighed. "The last thing we need is another war."

Garrus shook his head. "Now you see another reason for why I left C-Sec."

Victus was stood at the holographic map, examining it. This was their war room, where they could see and monitor the ongoing conflict.

Maybe he could Udina to get the Council to budge, they needed this alliance. Especially if they were fighting Reapers, krogan were going to invaluable.

"Joker, set a course for the Citadel." He instructed. "I've got to speak with Udina."

"You sure?" Joker asked. "Remember when we went to see him and he grounded us?"

"Joker." Shepard said sternly.

"Alright, alright." Joker gave up. "Hitting the relay."

* * *

><p>Part of the reason for visiting the Citadel was because Shepard had received a message from Ashley, apparently she was recovering.<p>

Liara insisted on going with him again, perhaps she still felt guilty, or wanted to show that she cared.

Udina was pestering Ashley into becoming a Spectre, it was true that she might make a good one, but now was hardly the best time to ask her to grab a rifle and hold off the Reapers.

They waited for Udina to finish badgering Ashley before seeing her.

"No, no." She began. "They've got it wrong, give me a gun and I'll fight." She didn't look ready for combat, she was still covered in bruises and cuts. But she had improved.

"Not just yet, Ash." Shepard laughed. "You've missed some action though, Garrus is back."

"Good old Garrus." Ashley shrugged, wincing afterwards. "How about you, Liara?"

"I'm fine." She lied. "We got you this." She handed Ashley a book, poems by Tennyson.

Ashley raised her eyebrows. "You both know what I like." She smiled. "Thanks."

"How are you doing, Ash?" Shepard asked.

"Getting there, waiting's killing me." She replied. "Lots of… rattling, docs don't want me in battle for a while." She looked regretful for a moment. "Shepard, what I said about you and Cerberus… I was right about them, but not about you." She admitted.

"Thanks Ash." Shepard shook her hand, no hard feelings. "I'd like to stay and talk, but we've got to find some solutions, politics are stalling us."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Suddenly I don't envy you." She smirked. "Hey, Liara. Take care of him."

Liara nodded and followed Shepard out. She felt better seeing that Ashley held no grudges and that she was recovering. But they still had monumental tasks to complete.

* * *

><p>Shepard did some running around, solving problems and such. Garrus was keeping an eye on the refugee camp that had appeared in the docking bays, hoping to find his father and sister.<p>

But he had no luck, all Shepard could do was sympathise.

To cheer himself up, Garrus came up with an odd way to have a talk. He and Shepard went to the firing range, Shepard used his Spectre status to get Garrus in.

"It's pretty simple." Garrus lined up a shot with his Mantis and hit the target in the head. "Shoot and talk, it's been a while since we last shot or talked about something in peace and quiet."

Shepard loaded his Viper and took the next shot. "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's been something of a storm, every time you show up, you need something blown up or shot." Garrus explained. "That's a good thing, not many dull moments. But this is different by far."

"First it was Saren, then the Collectors," Shepard fired again, "now it's the Reapers."

"The Collectors are back, in a way." Garrus reloaded. "Not as bad as last time, but they're still a pain." He fired again, another headshot. "We're both fighting for our homes, Palaven and Earth."

"The stakes are a lot higher too."

"You never told me much about life on Earth." Garrus took aim again. "What was it like?"

Shepard paused, he didn't like to talk about it. "It wasn't fun." He stated, firing his rifle. "Wasn't much of a life either. That's why I joined the Alliance, to get away from it all."

Garrus picked up on the fact that Shepard didn't want to talk about Earth and steered clear of the topic. "Then you ended up on Elysium."

"That was just luck, Garrus." Shepard shrugged. "I should have been turned into mince by those batarians, but somehow, I survived."

"So, what do you think of as your career highlight?"

Shepard considered, he knew what he would have said automatically, but that wasn't the answer that Garrus wanted. Meeting Liara didn't count as a career highlight, he supposed, that was more of a off duty thing.

"Becoming a Spectre, I guess." He answered. "If I'd known it would lead to this, then I might have backed out."

Garrus chuckled. "Shepard, if anyone can take out the Reapers, it's you."

"What do you think we should do next?"

It was Garrus' turn to think. "There's a political meeting in a system near the Citadel, or so I've heard." He told Shepard, taking another shot. "Arrange a meeting and get them to put the issues aside. We need the krogan to save Palaven, and Earth."

"Sounds good to me." Shepard nodded, it occurred to him that Garrus would make a good Spectre, if they survived this by some miracle.

* * *

><p>They fired off a few more rounds before leaving and avoiding the queue waiting for the firing range to clear. Garrus went back to the Normandy, Shepard decided to see who else he could find.<p>

He ended up finding Liara at a place called Apollo Café. He wondered if she wanted to be left alone, but decided to risk talking to her. She was in the middle of a call when he approached.

"No, no I can't get that yet." She was saying, sounding a little irritated. "I'm busy at the moment, I'll call you back." She sighed and put her datapad down as Shepard sat opposite her. "People still think I'm the Shadow Broker." She explained.

"You are though." Shepard added.

"If we survive this, I'll leave that role behind." She told Shepard. In terms of appearance, she hadn't changed much since he'd last seen her. To him, she still looked beautiful. The first time he'd met her, he'd been attracted to her from the start, he'd thought of her as cute and shy, maybe it had been the freckles and her lack of confidence.

She'd become more confident since then, but had kept the beauty.

"Can I get you something?" Shepard asked. Liara was a little confused, Shepard remembered that his approach was a human one. "Coffee?" He suggested.

She accepted, soon they were reminiscing on their adventures. Chasing Saren, going after the Shadow Broker. It was difficult to talk about current times, Shepard knew that Thessia was under attack too. He stuck to recent events.

"When you went back to Earth, Cerberus found Hagalaz." She explained. "They attacked my ship and I was forced to abandon it to escape." She half smiled. "But I did send it on a collision course with the largest Cerberus ship." She'd come to the end of her part. "So, what about you?"

"I went on trial." He explained. "I pleaded guilty to destroying the Mass Relay in the Bahek system." Liara was briefly stunned for a moment, but she knew that Shepard only did things for the right reasons. "They relieved me of duty, they would have locked me up, except they needed my knowledge of the Reapers."

"They've never faced an enemy like this before."

"I wasn't much help, the attack took us all by surprise."

"You did your best, Shepard." She reached across the table and held his hand. "We can save them."

Shepard sighed. "I hope so." He looked into her eyes. There was something they both wanted, needed, to say.

His com' beeped, breaking the moment. Shepard shook his head and turned it on.

"It's Garrus." The turian sounded pleased with himself. "I arranged a meeting with those diplomats, they want to meet aboard the Normandy."

"Good work, Garrus." Shepard turned off the com'.

Liara shrugged. "Back to the Normandy?"

* * *

><p>The Normandy arrived in the neutral system near the Citadel. The ships waiting for them were staying clear of each other, out of reach of each other's cannons.<p>

Shepard hastily changed into an Alliance uniform, he was used to walking around in fatigues or armour.

At the meeting table was Primarch Victus, the salarian Dalatrass and her aide and two familiar faces; Urdnot Wrex and Urdnot Grunt. Liara and Garrus were also present, just in case someone had managed to smuggle a weapon past the sensors or started a fight. This was politics after all.

"This meeting is pointless." The Dalatrass was already protesting. "Why my people allowed your… subordinate to arrange a meeting is beyond me." She was talking about Garrus.

"Charming." Garrus muttered under his breath.

"This meeting is not about your disputes with the krogan." Victus was trying to remain impartial, Shepard had to give him credit, he was doing a good job. "This is about the real threat: the Reapers."

"Primarch Victus is right." Shepard agreed. "These problems are centuries old, they need to be forgotten."

"We can _never _forget them." The Dalatrass hissed. "We raised the krogan to know war, and we had to control them."

"You mean; you had to bomb us with the Genophage." Wrex growled.

"While we argue, our worlds burn." Garrus tried to join Victus in being impartial. "We need to _act_, not argue." He glanced at the salarians and the krogan. "We're here to stop the Reapers."

"Garrus is right." Grunt added. "This a fight for the krogan to join."

"Do you think that I am blind to this, Commander?" The Dalatrass turned to Shepard. "I could be overseeing the defence of _my _world, and you want us to _talk_."

"Defence cannot win us a victory against the Reapers." Victus argued. "We must take the fight to them."

"Wrex, the turians are promising us support," Shepard told his krogan friend. "If you send troops to Palaven."

Wrex considered. "Perhaps, but we need something first." He grunted.

"Typical!" The Dalatrass spat. "I told you these talks were pointless, Commander."

The talks began to devolve into an argument, with the krogan threatening violence. Typical politics, neither side liked the other, and what appeased one angered the other. This was getting them nowhere, Shepard looked like he was about to give up.

"Enough!" Liara slammed her fist down on the table, interrupting the squabble. "It's time to face the truth, we _all _need the krogan _and _the salarians on our side." She glared at the politicians, as if daring them to argue. "We have a chance to defeat the Reapers, and we can't squander it here." She turned to Shepard. "Shepard doesn't want this alliance for Earth, he wants this for _everyone_, every world, every species. I suggest that you _listen _to him."

Everyone fell silent, then they turned to Shepard.

"Dalatrass, Wrex." He addressed them both. "It's true, we need you both. Wrex, what do you need?"

Wrex leaned forwards. "A cure for the Genophage."

"Impossible." The Dalatrass protested, but with a touch of fear. "There's no such thing."

"It would take years to develop a cure anyway." Victus added.

"Really?" Wrex seemed to be quite sure of himself. "Show them, Grunt."

Grunt turned on his omni-tool and showed them grainy footage from a handheld camera. It showed a number of female krogan in observation modules, and some data from their biometrics.

"These females are _immune _to the Genophage." Wrex told them.

"Where did you get this?" The Dalatrass gasped.

"A while back, a salarian scientist called Maelon grew a conscience and tried to cure the genophage."

"I remember." Shepard added. "His experiments were brutal."

"Yes, but some of his test subjects survived." Wrex explained. "They were taken by the STG." He glared at the Dalatrass. "You want our help, then we need that cure."

The Dalatrass looked like she was about to argue, until she noticed Liara glaring challengingly at her and the others waiting for her answer. She wasn't going to win this.

"The krogan females are being held on Sur'Kesh." She murmured. "I will clear you to land."

Shepard and the others left, but she shouted after him. "You'll regret doing this, Commander." She warned.

"I think not." Wrex grunted.

* * *

><p>Sur'Kesh had been likened to the jungles of Earth, what was left of them, and Shepard could feel the humid air in the shuttle. He put his suit's cooling system on.<p>

Wrex had insisted on coming with them, he was checking his shotgun.

"This is the salarian homeworld." Shepard warned him. "They aren't used to seeing krogan here. We go in, grab the females and get out, before anyone changes their minds."

Wrex snorted. "I still don't trust a word they say."

"Let diplomacy play out, Wrex." Shepard told him. "You'll get what you want."

"These females are probably the best, and last hope for my people."

Liara came in from the cockpit. "We'll get them back, Wrex." She assured him.

Wrex nodded. "I appreciate that, Liara. I wouldn't want anyone else along for the ride." Garrus cleared his throat next to Wrex. "I suppose I can make room for you too, Garrus."

"Figured you'd gone soft," Garrus laughed, "sitting on your throne, forgotten how to hold a gun."

Cortez called them from the cockpit. "Commander, I have the salarian base on sensors."

"Set her down." Shepard ordered. The shuttle flew up to the base and hovered over the landing pad.

"Commander," Cortez called, "the salarians say we don't have permission to land."

"Tell them that the Dalatrass authorised this herself." Shepard instructed.

Wrex however, was not so patient. "I knew they'd never keep their word." He growled, thumping the control panel. "Let's see them stop a krogan airdrop."

"Wrex!" Shepard shouted, hearing the door open.

The krogan jumped out of the shuttle, landing with a loud thud on the ground.

"We have an unauthorised landing." A loudspeaker blared.

Two salarians approached Wrex with their omni-tools. "And who authorised you to hold the future of my race hostage?" He flung the two salarians away with his biotics and pulled out his shotgun.

Targeting lasers struck his crest and face, dazzling him. Snipers were ready to fire.

Shepard and his squad jumped out of the shuttle, more salarians approached, carrying rifles.

"Halt!" One of them barked.

"Stand down," another one ran up, "hold your fire." He looked flustered. "Commander, we only found out about this transfer a few moments ago." He explained.

"I'd like to avoid a diplomatic incident." Shepard reassured him. "But you have something important to Wrex."

"Something worth dying for!" Wrex added angrily, shotgun still out.

"We can allow the transfer," the salarian agreed, "but I must insist that he remain under guard."

Wrex huffed angrily, Shepard turned to him. "I can handle this, Wrex." He said firmly.

Wrex submitted and put his shotgun away. "Anything goes wrong and all bets are off."

* * *

><p>The salarian, Padok Wiks, shakily welcomed them to the facility. Wrex was kept under guard and a rifle sight, he was muttering something about salarians being "soft" and grumbling about being watched.<p>

Shepard recognised a salarian in dark armour approaching. "Captain Kirrahe?"

"It's Major now." Kirrahe had helped Shepard during the assault on Virmire. That had been a long and bloody fight. "Good to see you. You too Vakarian, Dr T'Soni."

Kaiden Alenko hadn't made it off Virmire, he had given his life for them.

"I heard about Earth." Kirrahe continued. "Rumour has it that you're finding an edge."

"We've found some Prothean data that could help us in the fight." Shepard confirmed.

Kirrahe nodded. "Just so you know, you can count on my support for retaking Earth."

"You'd do that?"

"Think of it as returning a favour." Kirrahe explained. "I'd better let you go, the labs are down there."

An alarm blared suddenly, the salarians began to run around, grabbing guns and checking consoles.

"Unidentified ships have breached the perimeter." Padok Wiks stated. "Hurry, Commander. We'll deal with this."

* * *

><p>It seemed that Shepard was meeting a lot of old friends today. As soon as he stepped out of the lift, he ran into another ally.<p>

"Ah, Shepard." A salarian gabbled. "Knew you'd come. For females, yes?" Mordin Solus had been an invaluable ally in the fight against the Collectors. "Fed information to Clan Urdnot." He whispered. "Told Wrex about females."

"You're Wrex's contact?" Garrus inquired.

"Yes," Mordin confirmed. "Unfortunately, only one female survived." He led them over to a large armoured box, passing an enraged Yahg on the way.

"Nasty looking customer." Garrus muttered.

"So was the Shadow Broker." Liara added, the former Shadow Broker had been a Yahg.

Inside the armoured, shielded box was a krogan restrained on a security rig. She regarded Shepard curiously.

"Have you come here to kill me?" She asked quietly. "My sisters died in pain and suffering, have you come to do them same?"

"Tried to save them." Mordin murmured. "Unable to, sadly."

"I'm here to take you back to Tuchanka." Shepard told the krogan. "Wrex is here to get you."

The alarms began to blare. "Warning: hostiles have breached the perimeter." The intercom warned.

Shepard's radio activated, it was Wrex. "Shepard, it's Cerberus." He informed Shepard. "They're after the females."

"Only one of them survived." Shepard told him. "I think she'll be safer down here."

"So the salarians can kill her too?" Wrex snarled. "No deal! Get her up here now!"

Shepard turned to the salarian monitoring the pod. "We need to get her out of here."

"I can't do that." The salarian protested. "All specimens must be…" He cried out as electricity crackled through his body.

Mordin stood behind him with his omni-tool out. "Objection noted." He remarked. "Now, release krogan."

The salarian complied, not wanting another shock. Mordin stepped into the control booth inside the pod to control it.

"Shepard, meet us at next checkpoint." He instructed.

"You'll see Tuchanka again." Shepard assured the krogan. "I promise."

The squad headed for the lift, pulling out their weapons and breaking into a run.

The lift descended and the doors opened.

A large cylinder in the back flashed and beeped.

"Oh crap!" Garrus swore.

"Bomb!" Shepard shouted, shoving them back.

The shockwave slammed into him and flung him and his allies to the ground.

Dazed, Shepard staggered to his feet, his friends were alright, but the lab was a mess.

He grimaced. "Come on," he ordered, "we've got a fight on out hands."


	7. A piece of the puzzle

_**I know that Liara and Garrus have been appearing in the most of the missions, they are my top favourite squad mates and Shepard's best friends, but I will attempt to diversify later on.**_

* * *

><p>The base was in chaos.<p>

Fires were already burning, gunfire was rattling through the facility and Cerberus shuttles were dropping off troops. Their fighters were shooting down the few gunships that the salarians had.

Shepard took point, leading his squad into the battle. Cerberus was not keen on Shepard succeeding. He knew that they were extremists, but surely they could see how this benefited Earth as well as everybody else?

Bullets whipped past, adrenaline pulsed round their systems. How they survived each fight was a mystery, but at least they managed.

"They're after the krogan!" Garrus shouted over the gunfire. "What else could they be here for?"

Liara flung another Cerberus operative into the air, Shepard took the opportunity and shot him in the chest. Cerberus seemed to be concentrating on the salarians.

The squad moved up, past some containment tanks. Cerberus troops ran in, catching them off out of cover.

One of the Yahgs suddenly leapt through the glass on its tank, grabbing the nearest Cerberus trooper and ripping him in half, he turned and beat the other one to a pulp. He would have gone for Shepard, but luckily a gas pipe had ruptured and was spraying flames in front of them.

The Yahg growled and vaulted over the railings, disappearing into the jungle.

"Guess he didn't like the food." Garrus remarked.

"Something to put in our memoirs." Liara added.

Unlike the Yahg, they managed to skirt around the flames and onto the stairs.

Ahead, Mordin was maintaining the containment shields of his pod, Cerberus didn't care much about him, they were busy trying to kill the krogan female.

"Don't hit the shield." Shepard warned them, shooting a Cerberus operative in the head.

One of them was equipped with a metal shield, those irritating shields. Liara grabbed the shield with a biotic attack and wrenched it away, breaking the man's arm. The operative didn't have much time to scream as several bullets slammed into him.

"Shepard, always on time." Mordin babbled from inside the pod. "Need approval to continue."

Shepard began to tap commands into the console. "Are you okay?"

Mordin checked the holographic display. "Containment shield is holding." He informed them. "Can't speak for krogan's health however."

"I am fine, Commander." The krogan murmured, she was much quieter than Wrex or Grunt.

"Cerberus desperate to kill her." Mordin continued. "Without krogan-turian alliance, Reapers left unchallenged."

"We'll do more than challenge them." Shepard stated, sending the pod on its way.

"Shepard, next checkpoint." Mordin instructed. "Cerberus likely to target…"

The pod shuddered suddenly as something exploded. A Cerberus shuttle hovered behind it, two soldiers fired their rifles at Shepard as the pod left.

"Hurry, next checkpoint!" Mordin shouted insistently.

"Orion squad, target acquired." One of the troopers relayed to his team.

Garrus popped over cover and shot him with his Vindicator. The man toppled and fell out of the shuttle. A burst from Liara's SMG riddled the other one with slugs.

The shuttle flew away, unlike the Alliance shuttles, it lacked weapons.

Shepard and his squad moved on, coming across a group of salarians under fire. The three of them assisted the salarians as best they could.

"Shepard, get cracking!" Wrex flew by in the shuttle, firing the cannons at a Cerberus gunship, another one was on his tail. "I'll try to draw their fire."

"He's taking on gunships in a shuttle?" Liara exclaimed.

"Like they would say," Garrus popped the thermal clip on his rifle, "he's got a quad."

They moved fast, taking out anything in their way.

"Someone must have tipped them off." Garrus muttered. "No way they'd find out about this so quickly."

"Every war has its traitors." Liara agreed.

The next door opened, a Cerberus trooper prepared to fire, only for a varren to pounce on him and rip into his throat. Another trooper shot the varren, only to end up being shot by Shepard.

"Hostiles ahead!" Garrus shouted.

"More up top!" Liara added. "Maybe we can take the high ground."

Shepard activated his omni-tool and faded from view, one of the perks of being an Infiltrator meant that he had an advanced cloaking system. "I'm headed up top." He spoke into his radio, quietly.

He snuck up behind one of the troopers firing on his squad's position and stabbed him with the omni-blade. Another trooper saw this and fired.

Shepard dislodged himself quickly and took cover, the bullets slammed into the stabbed trooper and finished him off.

Shepard pulled out his SMG and fired it blind over cover, hearing a cry of pain. He jumped up and finished the job before pulling out his rifle again.

"That did it." Garrus called. "We're clear."

Shepard bypassed the next door's circuitry, Cerberus was trying hard to stop them. Mordin's pod was under fire, again. Once again, Shepard and his team entered the carnage. Cerberus had been too concerned with Mordin and the krogan, mowing the troopers down wasn't difficult.

"Affinity for destruction intact Shepard." Mordin remarked. "Need to clear us."

Shepard activated the console and began to type in commands, it might have been easier if it wasn't all in salarian.

"How are you holding up?" He asked.

"Containment shield strong," Mordin nodded, "but not designed for direct fire."

The krogan regarded Shepard curiously. "This truce must be important to you."

"Everyone's survival depends on this." Shepard told her. The pod began to ascend.

"Hurry, Shepard." Mordin pointed up. "Next checkpoint."

More Cerberus troops entered, announcing that they had found the krogan, only to blunder into the mine that Garrus had put there, anticipating them. They made quite a mess.

"Shepard, I can't fly around forever." Wrex reminded him.

"The female's on her way up." Shepard told him.

"If you pull this off, I'm making you an honorary krogan."

Shepard wasn't sure about that, Tuchanka was somewhat radioactive, Wrex forgot that most species had an issue with nuclear fallout.

As they rounded the next corner, they saw Major Kirrahe beat down a Cerberus trooper. There were more of them waiting around the corner.

"Commander, stay back." Kirrahe warned.

"Is there an easier way around?" Shepard asked.

Kirrahe vented some heat from the pistol he was carrying. "You could say that." He slid out of cover and fired his pistol, hitting the Cerberus troops. The gun fired some sort of sticky bomb.

The Cerberus troopers couldn't dislodge them in time, they were blown to pieces.

"How do I not have one of those?" Garrus wondered aloud.

More Cerberus troops arrived. "Go Commander," Kirrahe shouting, picking up a fallen rifle. "I'll cover you."

One of the Cerberus troopers put down a round object and fiddled with his omni-tool. "Orion squad, your orders are to hold position and delay the enemy." One of them instructed. The object suddenly deployed a tripod and a box shot up. It was a turret. Clever.

The turret began to rattle off rounds, riddling the walkway with slugs.

"Garrus," Shepard shouted, "flank the turret!"

The turian nodded and snuck out of cover whilst the others covered him. Garrus slipped behind the turret and used his omni-tool to overload it, critically.

He ducked as the turret exploded, killing the engineer and sending wreckage flying.

Shepard and Liara picked off the dazed Cerberus troops.

"Pleasure to watch you work, Commander." Kirrahe commented.

* * *

><p>They ascended to the final checkpoint, near the landing pad.<p>

Cerberus didn't show up. That meant they had a surprise in store.

Surprise or not, Shepard had to get the krogan out of here.

"Shepard, you must authorise release." Mordin babbled as Shepard used the console. "Pod then transfers to loading area."

The pod was lifted up and carried slowly along the roof to the loading area.

"Shepard, heads up!" Wrex called. "You've got incoming!"

Something slammed into the landing pad, something big. Not a YMIR mech. Worse.

It was much bigger for a start, a cannon on one arm and a grasping claw on the other. There was a Cerberus trooper behind a shielded screen, piloting the mech. The mech fired its cannon as the squad dived into cover.

"Shepard, I can't land until you deal with that thing," Wrex shouted, "it's too dangerous!" Wrex only had a shuttle to fight with, he was better off on the ground.

The Atlas mech stomped forwards. "Krogan had been acquired." The pilot barked.

"Door's damaged!" Mordin kicked at the pod door. "Can't get out!"

"Stay clear," Shepard moved around the crate he was behind. "I've got this."

The Atlas noticed him and trained its cannon on Shepard. Bullets pinged off its armour, Garrus was trying to find a weak spot.

"Maybe we can crack it open." He shouted, seeing the screen. Easier said than done, the mech was heavily shielded, it would take a lot of firepower to bring it down.

"Concentrate fire!" Shepard shouted. The Atlas was slow, but still dangerous, Garrus dived out of its way as it swiped with its claw.

But that gave him an edge, he could see a turbine at the back, it looked like a vulnerable spot.

He lobbed one of his proximity mines into the turbine, The mine didn't detonate immediately, but it jammed the turbine.

Garrus ran into cover and hit the detonator.

When he looked up, the Atlas was still functional, but badly damaged, its shields were failing.

More bullets hit the screen, with failing shields, it soon cracked. The pilot was exposed to a hail of bullets that tore into him.

The mech shuddered then exploded, violently.

"We did it!" Liara exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we've still got Cerberus troops to deal with." Garrus added.

Mordin finally forced the door of the pod open, he pulled out his Carnifex handgun and opened fire.

As they finished off the troops, Wrex brought the shuttle round and set it down. He was late to the fight, the Cerberus troopers were dead.

He stepped out of the shuttle, loading a round into the shotgun's chamber with a flamboyant gesture. "You had me worried there for a minute." He nodded at Shepard.

Mordin extended his hand for the female krogan, only to be nudged aside by Wrex who did the same. The female krogan simply stepped past him.

Two Cerberus troopers landed. "Target acquired." One of them announced.

The female krogan grabbed Wrex's shotgun and shot both troopers with it. "I can handle myself, Wrex." She shoved the shotgun back into his hands.

"Women." Wrex muttered, following her to the shuttle.

One of the Cerberus troopers groaned.

Shepard advanced on him, pistol drawn. The trooper was dying, he was bleeding profusely and his right forearm had been blown away.

"We…" He grated.

"Why is Cerberus here?" Shepard demanded. "What do you want?"

The trooper gurgled and stopped moving, he was dead.

Shepard holstered his pistol and walked back to the shuttle, head filled with questions.

* * *

><p>"A gunfight on Sur'Kesh and a cure for the Genophage." Hackett surmised. "And I thought we had problems."<p>

"Any news on that data?"

Hackett frowned. "We're having a hard time, Liara keeps sending us bits she thinks she's translated." Hackett told him. "All we've figured out are a few words: turn, curse and cradle. Sounds more like Prothean philosophy to me."

"The problem is that the data isn't just Prothean." Liara explained. "It's from several ancient races, ones that fell before the Protheans, they were trying to find a way to stop the Reapers too."

"So it's even harder to decipher." Shepard guessed, silently despairing. "I'll keep you posted, Admiral."

"Likewise, Commander. Hackett out." The hologram faded away. Shepard returned to the conference room.

"Genophage cure can be synthesised soon." Mordin was explaining. "Problem is dispersal, but first, need sample from healthy krogan male."

"You're looking at it." Wrex grumbled.

"Excellent, come to med-bay when ready." Mordin said. "Making sure that Eve is in good health."

"Eve?" Shepard asked.

"No name, guest aboard human ship." Mordin explained. "Decided to use human creation story to find name." The salarian walked off to the med-bay, leaving Shepard with Victus and Wrex.

"Shepard," Victus seemed a little wary of Wrex. "I have something to discuss… in private."

"Do you now?" Wrex grunted. "Well I have something to say," he glared at the turian, "elsewhere."

"I'll see you both in the war room." Shepard told them, he just wanted a rest for now, that was harder to come by.

* * *

><p>Shepard decided to go down to the crew quarters first. He wanted to see Liara but chickened out at first and ended up in the gun battery.<p>

"Shepard," it turned out that Garrus had made it his home from home. "I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten my favourite hideaway." He put down his tools. "Hell of a fight, but you haven't forgotten how to handle a gun."

"Neither have you." Shepard added. "Has there been any news?"

Garrus shook his head. "No, they've been out of contact long enough for me to be worried."

"I'm sure they're okay."

"That's the problem with the platitudes." Garrus muttered. "They keep getting older." He sighed. "Sorry, Shepard. No offence intended."

"None taken." Shepard reassured him. "Leaving Earth was hard too." He struggled. "There was a boy, no more than six or seven." He explained. "I watched him die as we left."

Garrus sympathised. "This war is brutal for everyone." He said. "But we'll make the Reapers pay, even if we lose." He gestured at the cannons. "I find calibrating a big gun more relaxing. We're going to need more of them."

Shepard did manage to visit Liara. Like Garrus had made the gun battery his hideout, she'd made the place where Miranda had been her home from home. It was arrayed with consoles and screens from the Shadow Broker's base, all she'd been able to keep from the ship over Hagalaz.

"Shepard, what can I do for you?" She asked.

Shepard couldn't think of anything straight away and felt a little embarrassed. "I just wanted to talk." He told her.

She smiled, for the first time in a while. She made the galaxy that little bit brighter.

"Have you heard any news from Thessia?" Shepard asked.

"Not much." Liara answered. "They've seen Reapers in the system, but they haven't been attacked yet." She noticed Shepard's faraway look. "Are you alright?"

Shepard swallowed and managed to tell Liara what he'd told Garrus, about leaving Earth. Liara was also sympathetic.

There was an understanding of great loss between them. Shepard had been there when Liara's mother had died, right in front of her.

She'd been indoctrinated, and Shepard had pulled the trigger and ended her life.

He'd never known how Liara could have forgiven him for that, but she had.

She put her arms around Shepard, comforting him. She thought that he'd been through hell fighting against the Collectors, but that had just been purgatory, now they were in the fight not just for their lives, but for every life.

She could understand Shepard being like this, his home was burning and it was down to him to save it and everything else, from an enemy that was nigh invincible.

But whatever happened, she would help to end this fight by his side.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next up, some action on Tuchanka, I'm also planning a mission to Kahje after the Genophage issue. Reviews and comments welcome.<strong>_


	8. My turn

_**I promised diversity, and a new squad member, so I've brought back one of my favourites from ME2. So this mission will come first, after that I can put in that diversity.**_

* * *

><p>Rachni.<p>

Wrex had apparently seen them on Tuchanka and had a sent a scouting party to find out more. But the scouts had not reported in or returned.

Wrex had sent a group of krogan called Aralakh Company to an obscure planet called Utukku. If Rachni were there, then that was strange in of itself, Rachni preferred toxic environments.

"Commander," Cortez called, "Aralakh Company is on the surface, but there's no sign of the scouts."

"Put us down near Aralakh Company." Shepard instructed.

The shuttle touched down near a couple of gutted prefabs that had been made into an outpost by the krogan. As soon as they stepped out of the shuttle, they could hear a krogan bossing the Company around.

"Keep your weapons ready, we're in for a fight against our old enemies." The krogan leader was shouting. "Get down to the rally point." A krogan strode out between a group of soldiers. His crest was still segmented, but he had grown a little bigger.

"Shepard." Grunt was actually pleased to see him. "Couldn't ask for better company."

"Grunt," Shepard nodded. "How did you end up running this group?"

"Wrex needed someone strong, after we killed that Thresher Maw, he picked me." Grunt explained. "I gained a few scars getting this bunch in line."

"Good to see you again, Grunt." Garrus said. "Any sign of those scouts?"

"No, and no sign of Rachni." Grunt replied. "Yet. Something is wrong with this planet, it smells like a festering wound."

Aralakh Company moved out, toward a deep pit with a few prefabs leaning precariously over the edge.

Shepard had a feeling that the krogan would struggle to make it through without tipping the prefab over the edge. He entered slowly, trying not to disturb the balance, what little there was. Liara carefully followed him inside, following his steps.

But when Garrus stepped inside, the prefab began to overbalance.

The old foundations finally crumbled and the prefab tipped to the left, rolling down into the pit and landing with a loud crash.

"Shepard!" Grunt yelled down the pit. "Are you alive?"

"More or less." Shepard shouted up, getting to his feet. At least his armour was sturdy, all he had was a few bruises. He looked around, his squad was fine too, bruised but otherwise alive.

"What have you been eating, Garrus?" Shepard muttered.

"Not that much," Garrus protested, "direct that at Liara."

"I'm a biotic." Liara pointed out. "Biotics need food."

"At least the krogan didn't try that." Shepard glanced at the wrecked prefab behind them.

They ventured into the gaping maw of the caves, turning on their flashlights.

There was an eerie glow to the place, everything was tinged pale blue. Grunt was right, there was something wrong with the place, it made Shepard want to back out.

"Lovely place." Liara murmured.

Shepard felt something move under his boot and looked down. He felt sick.

The krogan had been dead for a while, but something had been _eating _him.

"That's just gross." Garrus swallowed.

There was a flamethrower in the krogan's dismembered hand, Shepard took the weapon, he had the feeling they were going to need it. They continued to follow the twisting natural paths further into the caves.

"Is that… webbing?" Garrus pointed at a thick, sticky black substance stretched across the tunnel.

"Looks like it." Liara confirmed. "Rachni make webs, I think."

Shepard lifted the flamethrower and burnt the webbing down, bullets wouldn't do the trick, he'd have to conserve ammo for the flamethrower as best he could.

The next chamber had pods of some kind inside, it was probably a good idea to avoid them.

"This reminds me of an old horror vid," Shepard muttered, "called Alien."

"I saw the remake when I was younger." Garrus added. "I didn't sleep for a week."

"Shepard, see those wires?" Liara pointed her flashlight at black metallic cables. "Reaper tech?"

So the Rachni weren't attacking of their own volition, they were under Reaper control.

They found another dead krogan, what was left of him. Liara took his flamethrower, they needed the flamethrowers to burn a path through the caves.

More webbing lay in their path, Garrus covered their six as Shepard and Liara burned a path through. The next cavern was huge, and filled with metal protrusions of a familiar bluish hue.

Reaper tech, Liara had been right.

There was a rattling screech as something scuttled out of a pit. It consisted of a carapace riddled with cybernetics and bloated pale sacks. The head was joined to the sacks, to make room for two large cannons bolted to the creature.

It had been a Rachni, now it was a Reaper thrall.

It screeched again and fired its cannons at the squad. Garrus responded by firing his battle rifle at it, punching holes into the bloated sacks. That only made things worse, tiny mechanical insects scuttled out of the creature.

Shepard dropped the flamethrower and pulled out his rifle, aiming for the creature's head. The rifle fire was attracting more hostiles, Cannibals and Husks.

Now they knew that Reapers were involved here.

The gunfight lasted for about five minutes, the Husks were relentless, they never stopped until they were dead. But somehow, they held out.

"That looked like a Rachni." Garrus pointed his rifle at one of the corpses. "But the Reapers have changed it."

"We made the Queen promise not to cause war." Liara agreed. "She wouldn't have done this willingly."

"Let's hope not." Shepard picked up the discarded flamethrower.

* * *

><p>As the squad burned their way through the tunnels, they ran across more dead krogan, and more Rachni Husks that Garrus had started to call Ravagers. The tunnels were still pitch black, the only light came from the flamethrowers and flashlights they were carrying.<p>

The only warnings they had when an attack came was from the unearthly blue glow of the cybernetics.

It was shame that they were dead of course, but at least the dead krogan had thermal clips on their bodies. The squad was fighting off hordes, and they were burning through their clips, ammo and the heat sinks were starting to play up.

Worst of all; the batteries in their flashlights were starting to run low.

"Shepard," Grunt called over the radio, the transmission was full of static, but it was reassuring to hear another voice. "Found the scouts."

"Are they alive?" Shepard asked instinctively, he'd be surprised if they were.

"Their leader ordered them to carry weapons and ammo further into the caves," Grunt explained, "he knew that the next squad would need them."

That answered the question, the scouts were dead. At least Aralakh Company was still in action.

"Wait, that's not a web." Garrus pointed at the next obstruction.

It was some sort of thick metal plating, with the bluish-purple hue that was so familiar. It was some sort of Reaper device. Damn.

"We'll have to go around." Liara dropped her empty flamethrower, not that the weapon would be much good against the barrier.

Shepard took the lead, leading them along a narrow path. Below, they could hear gunfire.

Grunt was holding off the Ravagers with the remnants of Aralakh Company. One of the Ravagers made the mistake of coming close.

Grunt roared and charged into it, lifting it up and hurling it down the chasm.

Shepard carried on, if he could bring the Reaper barriers down, then maybe Grunt could regroup with them.

Shepard entered the next chamber and spotted something significant. There was a device in the middle, it looked like a clawed hand with a glowing core.

It was a gamble, but the approach usually worked, Shepard shot the core with his rifle.

There was a metallic screech and the barrier behind Shepard slid into the ground.

Grunt and the three krogan still alive entered the chamber. "About time, Shepard." Grunt muttered. "Those things put up a good fight."

"How are you holding up?" Shepard asked.

"I'm good, but most of Aralakh Company is dead." Grunt answered flatly. "Any worthy enemy will come and finish us off." He reloaded his shotgun. "Go, Shepard. We'll cover you."

Grunt wasn't going to give him an option, and getting to the bottom of this could save them all. Shepard had to carry on.

* * *

><p>Shepard could still hear gunfire as they entered the largest chamber. There was something in a crater ahead, something moving. Whatever it was, it was huge.<p>

There was a grinding sound as barriers slid up to block them off.

"Damn it!" Garrus spat. "Now what?"

"Same as before," Liara told him, "we find a weakness."

The node was actually well hidden, but being an Infiltrator meant that Shepard was used to spotting concealed things. He disabled the node with his omni-tool.

That caused problems.

The barriers on their left descended, revealing more Husks.

The squad opened fire, but the Husks, especially the Ravagers, just kept coming.

Shepard's flamethrower was out, he threw it at the nearest Husk and pulled out his Valkyrie.

Liara shouted something about her SMG running low. They also had little cover from the Ravagers.

"Incoming!" Garrus yelled, cannon round hit the space where he had been. "We need to take out those nodes and fast!"

"Cover me!" Shepard called, throwing Liara his SMG, she needed the ammo, and this was likely to get him killed.

Shepard activated his cloaking system and kept his rifle ready, but with the muzzle pointed at the ground. He slipped through the horde, trying not to blunder into them.

A Cannibal nearly ran into him, he could smell rotting meat on its breath, it had been that close.

Shepard climbed up to the node and shut it down with his omni tool. The barriers on the other side slid down, but that just revealed more Husks.

Shepard had to disable the other node and fast, the squad needed cover.

With the cloaking system running low on power, he ran across to the other node.

His cloak failed on the other side.

A Ravager screeched and pounced on him, pinning him down. Shepard tried to bring his omni-blade up, but his arm was pinned.

The Ravager screeched again and lunged.

Something hit it and tore it off him. Liara had her fist clenched, Shepard could hear something snapping, the Ravager was being crushed.

Shepard took the opportunity and ran towards the node, shutting it down.

Garrus and Liara ran into the cover that was exposed to them. "Shepard, stay back!" Garrus warned, Shepard saw him dropping mines and grenades behind him as he ran.

He jumped behind cover and lobbed a primed grenade.

The explosion shook the chamber, rocks began to fall from the roof.

But it obliterated the Husks, turning them into a gory mess that splattered against the rocks.

Shepard felt his ears ringing as he stepped down and ran across to the crater.

Thankfully, Garrus and Liara were fine.

But ahead was another problem.

The thing he had seen. It was the Rachni Queen from Noveria.

It stared at them with its eyes, it was trapped by some sort of machinery.

"Shepard…" A krogan corpse opened its mouth and spoke.

"Goddess!" Liara exclaimed.

"Shepard…" More corpses spoke and added their voices. "You came."

"When you left Noveria you promised to be peaceful." Shepard pointed his rifle at the Queen. "It looks like your working for the Reapers."

"The machines soured our notes, took my children and made them silent." The corpses argued, Garrus poked one with his rifle, half curious, half repulsed. "We _hate _the machines, let me go, and I shall raise an army to do battle with them."

"Can we really trust her?" Garrus inquired. "Again?"

"She's not indoctrinated." Liara protested. "She deserves another chance."

"Whatever," Garrus looked up at the crumbling roof, "we don't have time to debate, decide fast, Shepard."

Shepard considered his options, but he needed a way out first. "Let her go." He instructed as he turned on his radio. "Grunt, are you there?"

"I'm the only left standing!" Grunt shouted, Shepard could hear him firing his shotgun over the radio.

"We need a way out, we can't crawl out of here."

"I know where you are." Grunt responded. "In a minute."

"We haven't got a minute!"

"Damn it!" Grunt shouted angrily. "I was having fun!"

Liara shot the Reaper node next to the Queen, freeing her from the restraints. Shepard just hoped that she would keep her word.

Part of the wall behind them blew out, Grunt stood in the gap with a smoking Claymore. "Shepard!" He yelled. "Get up here, now!"

Shepard and his team ran to Grunt as the Rachni Queen scuttled up the chamber, she was safe, they weren't.

They sprinted through the maze, rocks falling around them, they had to get out fast.

There was a screeching sound from around the corner. They halted.

A horde of Ravagers was waiting for them.

"Go." Grunt pulled out his shotgun. "I've got this."

"Grunt…" Shepard tried to argue.

Grunt glared at him. "My turn, Shepard."

Shepard knew that he wasn't going to win. His heart felt heavy as he, Liara and Garrus ran up the passageway. Grunt had been a loyal team-mate and a friend.

Now he was another loss.

* * *

><p>"I AM KROGAN!" Grunt roared and ran towards the nearest Rachni, blasting it to pieces with his shotgun. He spun round and beat another down before firing at the next one. He kicked one down the chasm and fired his last round into a Ravager's head.<p>

A Ravager landed on him from behind. Grunt kicked it off and ripped the cannon off its back, beating it down.

He roared again and charged into a Rachni, knocking it down the chasm.

He fell too.

* * *

><p>Shepard walked away from the caverns, the shuttle was waiting for them.<p>

How many friends was he going to lose to this damn war?

"Shepard, look." Liara pointed behind him.

Impossibly, Grunt was alive. He was covered from head to toe in blood and limping.

"Anyone got something to eat?" He asked, stumbling.

Shepard helped him up and onto the shuttle. At least he had nothing to regret this time, a friend still lived.

* * *

><p>Now they were headed for Tuchanka, Mordin was coming close to finding a cure. Grunt had insisted on staying with them, citing that Shepard was his Battlemaster. His help couldn't hurt, anyone except for their enemies. Shepard knew that it was better to have a krogan as an ally rather than an enemy. Besides, he was scoffing the food that no-one else wanted.<p>

Shepard's team gathered in the war room. Mordin had a solution, and two problems.

"Found way to disperse cure," he babbled, "but, problems arise." The map of Tuchanka appeared, two red icons appeared. "Here, Reapers have landed advanced scouts to stop cure. One force holding the path to the krogan sacred place, the others are inside."

"What's this one?" James pointed at the other symbol.

"Reapers have control of anti-air cannons, new type of Reaper is poisoning atmosphere to render cure useless." Mordin answered.

"You want us to take down _a Reaper_?" Garrus checked. "You can't take one out with a rifle, or even a rocket launcher."

"We need to move Reaper away, deactivate cannons," Mordin explained, "disperse cure then. Will use Normandy to disperse cure, Reaper guarding best point for deployment."

Shepard studied the map carefully, the attack still sounded mad. He glanced at the list of assets they had acquired, then had a brainwave.

"Primarch, can you get some fighters to Tuchanka?" He asked.

"I can try," Victus replied, "why?"

"We need an air strike," Shepard told him, "Wrex, what ground vehicles do you have?"

"Some Tomkahs and a couple of old tanks." He shrugged. "You thinking of an assault?"

"We need a convoy anyway." Shepard answered. "Garrus, is there anything else the turians can give us?"

Garrus shook his head, but Liara had an idea. "An Alliance patrol retreated from a nearby system, according to my intel, they left some Makos behind."

"Better than nothing." Garrus shrugged. "Those things are really tough anyway."

Shepard adjusted the map. Now it showed a turian fighter squadron and krogan forces moving on the Reaper. "Once we secure this location, we roll out a strike force to attack the Reaper." He explained. "I'll take a squad to disable the anti air guns."

Mordin nodded. "Strategy acceptable, success possible."

"I'm just up for a good fight." Wrex growled.

At least they had a chance, but going toe-to-toe with a Reaper seemed to be suicidal.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Here's where things start to change even more, as aforementioned. Keep the reviews coming, I'm keeping this up.<strong>_

_**By the way, some people think that the "Destroy" ending for ME3 might be a dream, and they have some proof. Bioware is also hinting at a DLC. **_

_**But I'm going to write this anyway, it'll be interesting without the Crucible.**_


	9. A future for the krogan

The Hollows was a large krogan bunker, a sacred place for them. The place was enormous, a meeting point for several thousand krogan, but there weren't that many of them.

The Hollows was also filled with Husks.

They had to land further away too, because of the cannons. They only had a small force too. About eight Tomkahs, two battered krogan tanks, five turian fighters and two Makos. The tanks had caterpillar tracks and were enormous, they had two heavy cannons and machine guns. Maybe they couldn't kill a Reaper, but they could make it think twice about fighting them.

"Shepard, when did you last _drive _one of these things?" James asked.

"I wouldn't have called scaling mountains and crashing driving." Shepard remarked. "If you must know, two years ago."

James buckled himself into the seat and tried to subtly brace for a crash.

Grunt noticed anyway. "Coward." He muttered.

"Systems check." Shepard requested.

James checked the console, he was riding shotgun, Grunt had the turret. "Mass accelerator online, machine gun online, shields at full, hull secure."

"Good." Shepard turned the radio on. "Garrus, you ready?"

"In position," Garrus replied, "awaiting orders." He was in the second Mako with Victus and some turian commandos. There were also two turian soldiers and a sentinel in Shepard's Mako.

A lot was going into this assault, hopefully it would pay off.

"Liara, how's the convoy?" Shepard asked, Liara was with Mordin in the krogan convoy.

"Wrex is ready to go," she relayed, "on your order."

The plan was that the krogan convoy would head straight in, the Makos would flank the enemy. The fighters would provide air support, should they need it.

"All units," Shepard called, "commence the attack."

"Now you're talking!" Grunt thumped his gauntlets together as the Mako shot forwards. In the valley below, the krogan convoy rumbled forwards, tanks taking the lead with the Tomkahs behind.

On the other side of the valley, Garrus' Mako kept up with Shepard's, this plan would hopefully encircle the Reaper forces inside the Hollows and allow the troops to wipe them out.

The air shook as the tank cannons thundered, blasting the Reaper turrets to pieces. The Tomkahs behind began to fire their guns, with krogan infantry keeping Husks at bay.

Shepard's Mako was almost inside the Hollows, descending the ramp. Grunt brought the turret round and began to slice a swath of bullets through the squad of Collectors guarding the side entrance. He used the cannon to blow the doors open.

The Mako stopped and Grunt opened the hatch, letting the turians out. Garrus' Mako arrived on the other side and let his group out.

The main entrance exploded as the krogan entered the Hollows, the krogan pretty much guaranteed victory in the Hollows.

The Reapers hadn't been expecting a united armoured assault, they'd only left infantry and some turrets to guard the Hollows. Their infantry was quickly overwhelmed.

Wrex jumped out of his tank. "Get the rest of the Clans up here." He ordered. "We've got the future of the krogan to _discuss_."

* * *

><p>They came, without shooting each other for once.<p>

They were slightly awed by the carnage inside the Hollows, Wrex had brought plenty of firepower. They were also wary of the turian fighters that had landed nearby, and the commandos below.

Then there was Mordin, for them, salarians were bad news. New to be taken out with a shotgun.

"Wrex!" A large krogan who looked a bit like Wrex yelled. "What is the meaning of this? Why are turians here? And humans? And asari?" He demanded, he spotted Mordin and pulled out his pistol. "What the hell is a salarian doing here?"

Wrex responded by head butting him, violently, the other krogan was going to feel that for a few weeks.

"Silence, Wreave," Wrex growled, "he's the one who's going to save our race."

"Like they did before?" Wreave shouted. "By inflicting the Genophage upon us?"

"Krogan mistrust understandable," Mordin babbled, "but, as Wrex says, here to cure Genophage."

"Sure!" A stocky krogan with Blood Pack armour snapped. "You and that human destroyed my Clan, and you think that I'm going to believe you?"

"Enough!" All of the krogan turned, Eve had stepped out of her Tomkah. "Wrex is here to ensure that we are saved, and that we fight a common foe so that we can have a future." She strode forwards, up to Wrex's side. "This is not the time to fight each other. There is an enemy that is more than worthy to destroy, and doing that will give us our future." She paused for a moment. "Who is with me?" She demanded.

"I am!" Wrex shouted.

"Yeah!" Grunt added.

"I am!" Shepard agreed, his squad added their voices too.

"I stand with the krogan." Mordin assured them. "I made a mistake, and I will undo that mistake."

The other krogan agreed, rallied together for once in their lifetimes.

"Then gather your warriors and weapons," Wrex ordered, "we have a Reaper to kill and a war to fight! For Tuchanka!"

* * *

><p>The krogan convoy rumbled along the broken highway with the two Makos taking the lead. Garrus was in the lead Mako, James was driving the other one, at least he was better at driving than flying. The vehicles were perfect for the rough terrain, it was true that Hammerheads were faster and more powerful, but Makos were rugged and reliable.<p>

"Garrus here," the turian reported, "I've spotted the Reaper, big one too."

Shepard took a look at the console. The Reaper was one of the smaller, four legged ones, except it had been modified, it was releasing poison into the atmosphere. According to Mordin they had five hours to disable it, otherwise the cure would be useless and they would all be dead.

"A coward's way of fighting." Grunt complained. "A worthy enemy would fight face to face."

Sand whipped across the convoy, the wind was kicking up enough sand to partially obscure them from view, either that or the Reaper didn't consider them much of a threat.

Over the radio, Shepard could hear Wrex, Eve, Mordin and Liara discussing the Genophage cure.

"We'll need a few of our old worlds back." Wrex was telling them. "I'll get the Council to hand them over."

"You don't want to cause another war, Wrex." Liara reminded him.

"You haven't seen how fast we can squirt 'em out." Wrex laughed.

The Mako stopped suddenly, Shepard hung onto the railing. "What is it?"

James brought up more displays. "Don't know," he replied, "ask Garrus."

Shepard stepped out of the Mako. Liara stepped out of one of the tanks.

Shepard ran over to Garrus' Mako and thumped the hatch. One of the turian commandos opened it.

"What's the hold up?" Shepard asked him.

"The bridge has collapsed." The commando explained. "Garrus is trying to find a way across. The tanks can't jump it."

Shepard took a look at the gutted highway, the fall was long enough to cause some damage. The Makos could make the jump, the tanks and the heavy Tomkahs wouldn't.

"Wrex, is there another way around?" Shepard spoke into his radio.

"I don't think so," Wrex answered, "not for vehicles anyway."

Shepard swore under his breath. "Artimec wing, hold off your attack." He instructed the fighters. "We've been delayed."

"Negative, Commander." The squadron flew over. "The Reaper's already spotted us."

The fighters opened fire as the Reaper turned towards them, charging its cannon.

"Fall back!" Shepard yelled.

The beam fired, hitting one of the fighters. It carried on and destroyed two of the Tomkahs. It fired again and sliced one of the tanks in half, cutting the bridge supports.

Shepard and Liara ran towards the other end as the bridge collapsed. The two Makos survived the fall using their jump jets, one of the Tomkahs tumbled down and landed on its side.

Shepard was left clinging to the broken edge, the slope was good enough for the vehicles, but if he fell then he'd break his legs. Liara ran back and pulled him up.

"Garrus," Shepard called, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Garrus confirmed. "We can roll out, but we have to move fast."

"Go!" Shepard ordered. "Move out, follow Garrus." The convoy sped forwards and down the slope. The fallen Tomkah was righted by some krogan and they hastily joined the convoy.

That left Shepard in the open, with the Reaper aiming at him.

"Shepard!" Liara shouted, she was stood in a collapsed doorway, something they hadn't spotted.

Shepard ran for it as the Reaper fired, collapsing the rest of the bridge as he jumped.

Shepard clambered through the broken doorway. It collapsed behind him, leaving them in the dark.

For a moment, all he could hear was Liara panting, he was too.

Shepard turned on his flashlight, Liara copied his example. They were both covered in dust and sand, it was drizzling from the ceiling.

"Close." Liara commented.

"Yeah." Shepard agreed. "Wrex? Garrus? Does anybody read me?"

Nothing.

"They must be out of range." Shepard muttered. "We'll have to find our own way out."

Shepard and Liara moved carefully, as she pointed out, the place might be unstable.

The place wasn't quite like the rest of Tuchanka, for a start, it didn't look like krogan architecture. That said, most krogan architecture had been bombed at least once.

"This is… amazing." Shepard noticed that Liara was shining her flashlight on one of the walls. She was looking at some sort of wall painting. "Krogan art."

"I never thought of the krogan as artists." Shepard admitted.

"Perhaps they weren't so warlike." Liara murmured. "This is something new, even to them."

"Liara," Shepard didn't really want to tear her away from her discovery, but they had to move. "We have to move."

"Sorry." Liara turned away quickly, as if she was forcing herself to.

"If we survive, we can come back later." He told her.

As they moved, the place shook violently, loose stones fell from the roof.

"I didn't touch anything!" Liara protested.

"That wasn't you." Shepard felt the vibrations subside, but that was the odd thing, they were _moving _away.

The ruins echoed with their footsteps, the shadows barely retreated from their flashlights. There were more krogan paintings and murals on the walls, Liara kept staring at them before remembering that they had a mission to complete.

Shepard's light flashed then went out. "Damn it!" He muttered. "Battery's dead."

"You didn't recharge it?" Liara asked, slightly amused.

"Busy day." Shepard began to fiddle with the light.

Liara shone her light round. "That's odd." She murmured.

"Hang on, I've got backups." Shepard hit the switch and shone the light.

He froze.

It was large, glowing and whitish-blue with a black slit. The eye was bigger than he was.

"Liara," Shepard whispered, "don't move."

He was pretty sure that he was eye-to-eye with a Thresher Maw. A big one too.

* * *

><p>"Garrus, any word?" James asked over the radio.<p>

"No," Garrus replied, "but Shepard will find a way, he always does."

"As long as they didn't go underground." Wrex added. "Shepard's got a quad."

"What's bad about going underground?" James asked.

"They say that the mother of all Thresher Maws lives here," Eve explained, "Kalros."

Garrus swallowed and found himself glancing at the radar.

"The _mother _of all Thresher Maws?" James repeated, awed.

"Problematic." Mordin agreed.

Garrus adjusted channels. "Artimec, are you still there?"

"Affirmative, Sir." The squadron leader confirmed.

"Can you see anything unusual, anything moving _through _the ground?"

There was a pause. "Negative, Sir."

"Hopefully it's asleep then." Garrus drove the Mako over some wreckage. The Reaper had gone back to guarding the cannons, the convoy was almost there.

* * *

><p>Shepard decided not to risk shooting the eye, even if bullets could kill the Thresher Maw, it might bring the place down on top of them.<p>

What worried Shepard was that Liara kept trying to find something in her pockets. The Maw kept looking at her. It was too big to turn around and eat them, but Shepard didn't want to aggravate it.

Then it shifted, and Shepard wasn't so sure about being safe, he could see the glowing antennae moving towards them.

"Liara!" He hissed. "Stop!"

The Maw stopped instead, Shepard could hear a faint warbling sound, like a distant call.

The Maw turned away and began to slither away, it was a long wait, the thing was at least three miles long.

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief when it had gone. He turned to Liara, who was holding a pale round object. "What was that?" He asked.

"It's part of a Thresher Maw's resonance chamber," she explained, "I found it at a Prothean dig site." She frowned at the piece of bone. "I think that was a mating call."

Shepard smirked, grateful that the Thresher Maw hadn't thought that Liara was making it an offer. Liara seemed to catch on and had to stop herself laughing.

Even though the Thresher Maw had gone, they decided to hurry, rather than risk running into it again.

* * *

><p>"Finally, light." Liara switched off her flashlight as they ascended into the hazy sunlight. "Wait, this is…"<p>

A city that hadn't been bombed was the answer, but it was quite unlike any other. It was ancient, bronze and old stone. There were plants that didn't try to eat them and streams of clean water.

The place was decorated with patterns, paintings and statues of krogan wielding spears and heavy blades.

"Goddess, this is an ancient city." Liara touched one of the statues. "I never expected this on Tuchanka."

"You'd be amazed what you can stumble upon." Shepard added.

"Yes, Feros, Ilos." Liara remembered. "We end up in the strangest places together."

She turned to towards him, sunlight streaming over her shoulders, highlighting her against the backdrop. Tuchanka was an odd place for the moment, but as she said, they ended up in strange places. Together.

"Shepard?" Liara asked, frowning. He realised that he'd been staring at her.

Business first. Damn it.

Shepard and Liara continued through the ancient city, they could hear cannon fire in the distance.

"Shepard, can you see what this place means?" Liara asked suddenly.

"Is it sacred?"

"Hope." Liara answered. "There's hope for them. A future for the krogan."

* * *

><p>Garrus brought the Mako to a halt. "Someone fix the rear axle." He ordered. They'd encountered Reaper ground forces, and a Brute had been mangled under the Mako's wheels, but it had also damaged them.<p>

"Shepard, this is Garrus," he tried again, "if you can hear me, we're at rally point beta, hurry it up."

Garbled static answered, Garrus reached across to tune the radio.

"Shepard here." Garrus froze and checked the radio. "We ran into some trouble."

"Good to hear from you, Commander." Garrus sat back, relieved.

"We came across a giant Thresher Maw in the tunnels." Shepard reported. "We're inside some sort of ancient city."

"You encountered Kalros and lived?" Wrex interrupted.

"Told you, Shepard has no match!" Grunt whooped.

"The bad news is that we've lost two more Tomkahs and we're down to half strength." Garrus relayed. "We're going to need a miracle to kill that Reaper."

Shepard didn't reply, Garrus could hear snatches of a conversation, he was talking to Liara.

"I think I've got an idea." Shepard announced. "Meet us at rally point delta."

* * *

><p>Shepard and Liara began to hurry, they had to get there in time, ahead of the convoy would be better.<p>

"Get down!" Liara shouted, Shepard saw something coming down with a buzzing sound. He took cover behind a statue.

Collectors. They began to fire their rifles and beam guns at the two of them. They'd also brought a new type of Husk with them, something that had been a varren. The creatures had mechanical legs and jaws fitted with electrified spikes. They bounded towards Liara's position.

Liara responded by hurling a singularity at them, lifting them into the air. She took them out with her SMG.

Shepard concentrated on the Collectors, the creatures were few in number and the two of them quickly took the bugs down. "To think that these were once Protheans." Liara murmured sadly.

They sprinted towards the bridge, hearing the rumble of the convoy approaching.

"Shepard to convoy," Shepard called, "we can see you."

"Wrex!" Liara shouted into her radio. "There's something coming up behind the convoy!"

One of the Tomkahs turned its cannons on the disturbance and began to fire.

Kalros.

The Thresher Maw reared out of the ground and crushed the Tomkah.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" James shouted, his Mako swerved as the convoy began to scatter. Kalros roared and vanished into the ground again.

Garrus' Mako and Wrex's tank halted under the bridge. Wreave's Tomkah stopped to cover them.

Shepard and Liara jumped down onto the tank and it began to move as the Thresher Maw came for them again.

Wreave's Tomkah stalled, they heard him shouting over the radio.

Kalros shot out of the ground, sending the Tomkah soaring into the air. She towered over the convoy, bigger than the Reaper, and roared.

They heard Wreave screaming before his Tomkah hit the ground and disintegrated.

"Wreave's down!" Garrus shouted.

"Ah," Wrex grunted, "he was always a pain in the quad."

Kalros screeched and slid back into the ground. It wouldn't be the last they'd see of her.

* * *

><p>The convoy reached the anti-air batteries and halted. Their chances of victory were slim, they were down to less than half their numbers.<p>

"Not even the Makos can manage this terrain." Garrus told them. "Too many old buildings between us and the cannons."

The Reaper remained where it was, standing vigil over the cannons.

There were two enormous towers that looked familiar to Shepard, like…

Maw hammers. He'd used one during Grunt's rite of passage.

And there was an enormous, the biggest, Thresher Maw hanging around.

"Wrex, can you and the krogan disable the cannons?" Shepard asked.

"We can," Wrex loaded his shotgun, "what about the Reaper."

"I have a plan." Shepard pointed at the hammers. "I'm going to lure that Thresher Maw to the Reaper."

Shepard heard Liara reload her SMG, she looked determined.

"Liara…" Shepard began.

"Shepard, we can at least make it harder for the Reaper." Liara interrupted, checking her SMG. "You're going to need me."

Shepard sighed. "I can't dissuade you, can I?"

"Not a chance." Liara answered firmly.

There was a familiar rattling screech and metallic growling. Ravagers and mutated varren were gathering.

"Go!" Wrex yelled. "I'll handle this." He and Grunt pulled out their shotguns. James joined them, along with Eve, Garrus and Mordin.

"I am Urdnot Wrex!" Wrex bellowed as he charged, firing his shotgun. "And this is my planet!"

Shepard and Liara hit the ground and began to run. The run was a long one, and the Reaper had spotted them.

The beams slammed into the ground as they strafed and kicked up clouds of vaporised stone and dirt. Chargers, an appropriate name for the mutated varren, and Brutes were making the run even harder. Shepard rolled under the arm of a Brute, quickly shooting a Charger.

Another beam narrowly missed him.

The Reaper prepared to fire. Something explosive hit its hull, more shots followed.

"We'll give that Reaper something else to shoot at." Artimec wing soared over the battlefield, drawing the Reaper's fire away.

They made it to the first Maw Hammer. Liara covered him as he activated the hammer.

The shockwave made them all stumble. Shepard didn't know if it was enough and it was too noisy for Liara to use the Thresher resonance chmaber, he'd have to hit the second one.

They ran again, avoiding the Husks in their path.

The Reaper brought its foot down, nearly crushing Shepard, Liara managed to grab him just in time.

Artimec wing flew over again, the Reaper shot down another fighter, but it was distracted again.

Liara ran ahead as Shepard covered her. She primed the second hammer.

"Get back to the convoy!" Shepard shouted. He gave her a few seconds them followed her. As he ran he could feel the ground shaking as Kalros came.

She was going for the biggest kill, the Reaper.

She erupted out of the ground, hitting the Reaper. The machine remained upright with a huge Thresher Maw on its front.

It swung round, slamming Kalros into one of the hammers. Kalros slid back into the ground as the Reaper fired at her.

It looked like Shepard and Liara had made the effort of luring her there for nothing.

But as the Reaper turned, she pounced again, knocking it down.

She encircled it with her massive form and began to squeeze. The Reaper's legs snapped off, then it was crushed as Kalros dragged it underground.

* * *

><p>Shepard and Liara reached the convoy, just as Wrex and his group returned.<p>

"Shepard," Wrex called gleefully, "never mind one quad, you've got _two_!"

"I just had to record that." Garrus added.

"The guns are offline," Wrex nodded, "Mordin, do your thing."

Mordin activated his omni-tool. "Normandy, area safe, begin dispersal."

The Normandy soared in, flying over the devastated area. It circled twice, then began the dispersal.

White flakes began to descend from the cargo bay, like snow. Only each flake contained the cure for the Genophage.

"Done now." Mordin murmured. "Genophage cure released, krogan free."

"A future for the krogan." Liara added. "A new future for us all."

The flakes evaporated as they fell or landed, the cure entered the air. It wouldn't affect non-krogan, but soon, every krogan would have what they had always dreamed about.

It was a new chance for them, and a new beginning.


	10. The assassin

Now they had a chance.

The Rachni, krogan and turians were with them in the fight for Earth.

Hackett was impressed. "You never fail to impress me, Commander." He admitted. "With the heavy hitters on our side, we can at least put a dent in the Reaper fleet."

"What else can we do?" Shepard asked.

"The salarians are making ugly noises about this Genophage cure, and we've heard reports of Cerberus activity in hanar space." Hackett explained. "That data is still drawing blanks, but we've made a breakthrough, the Protheans managed to study a Reaper and found something, but we can't tell what. Some of the data is missing."

"At least it's a start." Garrus pointed out. "We've got some big guns on our side now."

"That's all for now," Hackett saluted, Shepard did the same. "Hackett out."

Garrus shrugged. "Hell of a day, Shepard." He grinned.

"Yeah, hell of a day." Shepard agreed.

"You've just dodged a Thresher Maw, used it to kill a Reaper and you saved the krogan." Garrus added. "I think you deserve a rest."

"Yeah." Shepard did feel tired all of a sudden. "I think you're right. Call me if something happens."

* * *

><p>Sleep was difficult when the body was still running on adrenaline. Shepard was hoping that he'd done the right thing too.<p>

He'd done it for his friends, but what about everyone else?

Would the krogan cause more trouble? Would the Rachni?

The difficult questions were enough to make him sleepy. Shepard closed his eyes.

_He had to find him, he had to save him, he had to! _

_Just this one shot at redemption. _

_The trees were smouldering, ash was falling now. Smoke billowed through the forest._

"_Shepard." Harbinger growled. _

"_Shepard." The Illusive Man whispered. _

"_Shepard." Anderson called. _

_The Commander ran through the trees, ignoring the voices, running after the boy. The ash stung his face but he ignored that too._

"_Shepard!" He froze, feeling his heart miss several beats. "Shepard! Please!" _

_Why? _

_Liara was crying, sobbing, begging. He had to help her!_

_But he couldn't find her. _

_He ran again, trying to find the boy and Liara. What good was he if he couldn't save someone, at least one person? Some saviour he was._

_A street urchin, turned war hero. A Spectre and now a failure. _

"_Shepard, you've got to do something!" Garrus shouted. _

"_She makes you weak, Shepard." The Illusive Man whispered. "Let her go, be strong."_

"_Please, Shepard!" Liara begged again. "Don't…"_

_Don't what? _

_Shepard saw him again, the boy stood in front of him. _

_Shepard reached out, their hands almost touched. _

_Then the flames took hold, and he was too late again._

Shepard woke, sweating and shaking again. Psychiatrist for definite this time.

He couldn't save the galaxy if he was a basket case.

He walked into the bathroom and washed his face, when he looked up he saw the same face in the mirror, but something was different. He just couldn't place it.

What did the dream mean?

That he couldn't save Earth? That his friends were in danger?

That he had to focus on Earth?

Did he have to forsake his love for Liara to save the galaxy?

Maybe it would make things easier. Besides, it wasn't like they'd be together for very long. Even if they survived, she'd outlive him tenfold.

Shepard was twenty nine biologically, thanks to Cerberus, he was thirty one chronologically. Liara was one hundred and nine, younger than him by asari standards.

He'd joked about it, but when it came down to it, he wasn't sure if they could stay together.

Someone knocked on his door. "It's open." He called.

He heard footsteps approach and stop outside the bathroom door. "Shepard?"

It was Liara. Of course, who else would it be?

Garrus thought that Shepard was strong, Grunt saw an unassailable Battlemaster, James saw a fellow soldier who'd been through hell and back.

What if they knew that he was struggling just because he loved someone?

Liara knew, he was sure of it. She was the only one who really knew him.

"Are you alright?" Liara asked.

Shepard shook his head. "I was just thinking… I've lost a lot of friends to this war."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Kaidan gave his life for us." Shepard sighed.

"That wasn't your fault." Liara consoled him. "You did everything you could."

As Shepard stepped out and saw Liara, he considered his thoughts.

His follies actually, how could he have even considered leaving her?

So maybe he wouldn't live for as long as her, but they made each other happy and that was what counted. For him, that made life worth living, and the galaxy could keep on spinning, they had each other. Even if they were struggling.

"Shepard, no one else can do this." She assured him. "You stopped Saren and Sovereign, you destroyed the Collector base without losing anyone." She stepped a little closer. "We can do this."

Shepard found himself entranced by her again. He leaned forwards and kissed her.

She didn't resist, she wrapped her arms around Shepard, pressing her body against his.

The com' beeped, someone had the worst timing in the galaxy. "Damn it." Shepard muttered. He let Liara go and turned the com' on. "Yes?"

"The salarian Councillor wants to see you," Traynor explained, "he's on vid-com."

Shepard turned the com' off and turned to Liara. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked a little crushed.

"Another time?" She offered.

"I'd like that." Shepard accepted.

* * *

><p>The hologram flashed into life, the salarian Councillor looked a little… worried.<p>

"Commander, I heard about your work on Tuchanka." He stated.

"We all need the krogan by our sides," Shepard reasoned, "not against us."

"I hope that we can trust them. But that isn't why I called." The Councillor changed the topic quickly. "Councillor Udina has been moving large sums of money to an unknown location, we think that he is planning something."

"If Udina is dirty, then we will have to do something about him.""My thoughts exactly, Commander." The Councillor nodded. "Come to the Citadel, I'll continue my investigation."

The hologram shut down. "Joker, set a course for the Citadel."

* * *

><p>The Normandy entered the system and flew towards the Citadel. It was quieter than expected. There were few ships around, only a couple of bulk freighters and a destroyer.<p>

"This is the SSV Normandy to Citadel docking control." Joker announced.

No response.

"I repeat, this is the SSV Normandy, requesting permission to dock."

No response.

"Docking control appears to be offline." EDI stated. "I can only detect encrypted short range communications."

"Something's wrong." Shepard guessed. "EDI, check the emergency channels."

"I have found a signal from Major Kirrahe." EDI told them. "Patching it through."

The transmission had a lot of static, Shepard could hear gunfire. "Commander, hostiles are on the Citadel." Kirrahe shouted. "They're after the Council."

"Shit!" Joker swore.

"Who's attacking the Citadel?" Shepard asked.

"Cerberus." Kirrahe replied, there was more gunfire. "I've got things under control here, head to C-Sec, I'll meet you there."

"Got it." Shepard acknowledged. "Joker, how close can you get?"

"I'll have to take out that destroyer," Joker primed the Thanix cannons. "I can do that, but you'll have to go in the shuttle, they'll spot anything bigger."

Shepard turned on the intercom. "Liara, Garrus, gather your gear." He ordered. "Cerberus is on the Citadel."

* * *

><p>The shuttle sped towards the Presidium as Joker carved up the destroyer.<p>

The Presidium was being held by a few determined C-Sec officers, but Cerberus was overwhelming them.

The shuttle flew through the access route for C-Sec patrol cars and into the landing bay. C-Sec officers were fighting a losing battle with the Cerberus troops.

Shepard and his squad jumped out of the shuttle and opened fire, turning the odds in C-Sec's favour.

When the last Cerberus trooper had fallen, they heard someone calling them.

Bailey was leaning against the landing bay door, holding his side and an assault rifle.

"Shepard," he grimaced, "great timing."

"What happened here?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know, one minute the salarian Councillor was here, the next these armoured bastards were shooting my men." Bailey limped over to the control panel. "Here, let me get you inside."

Shepard and his squad went in first, followed by Bailey and the three surviving C-Sec officers. Bailey sat down heavily at the desk and began to search the computer. "There we go," he'd found something, "the salarian Councillor went to see the Executor, hasn't left according to this."

"Stay here." Shepard told him and the officers. "We'll find them."

The corridors were riddled with bullets, dead officers were everywhere. Garrus kept checking them for life signs or dog-tags. He also kept calling out.

"Garrus, stop!" Liara hissed. "Cerberus will hear us."

"They didn't hear the gunfire." Garrus objected.

A bullet pinged off the wall to Shepard's left. "Famous last words." He muttered.

"Helios squad, hold off the enemy." A Centurion barked. "Cover Artemis squad."

Shepard smelt something in the air, some sort of gas.

"Flamethrower!" Liara warned.

A stream of liquid fire raged over Shepard's head as he ducked behind a fallen table.

Garrus fired round the door and hit the Cerberus trooper's gas tank. The man began to scream for help before exploding.

Clods of burning flesh hit the walls, the explosion had also taken out more of the troopers.

Shepard lobbed a grenade at the rest, blowing them to smithereens.

With the hostiles dead, they pressed on.

"Helios, Greek god of the sun." Liara recalled.

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt." Shepard added.

"That sounds ominous."

They hurried through C-Sec, until they finally reached the Executor's office.

Garrus and Shepard flanked the door as Liara hit the panel and stood back.

They entered quickly, weapons ready.

The Executor was dead, slumped across his desk, there were two salarian bodyguards on the floor.

"Bailey, the Executor's dead," Shepard reported, "so are two salarian bodyguards."

"Damn it!" Bailey swore. "Any sign of the Councillor?"

"Negative."

Garrus glanced out o the window, into the cafeteria. A chair was moving, seemingly by itself.

"Shepard." He called and pointed.

Something flashed and the salarian Councillor appeared next to the chair, he'd managed to acquire a cloaking field.

"Found him, he's alive." Shepard told Bailey.

He didn't see the figure in black jump down from the ceiling.

When he turned round, he saw him advancing on the Councillor.

Shepard covered his eyes and shot the window, jumped out of the office and into the cafeteria.

The assassin was using the Councillor as a shield. He had one hand up with some sort of tech attack ready to fire. He had been modified, his eyes were covered by some sort of black interface with white slits.

"Stand down!" Shepard threatened.

"Shepard, he's going to kill us all!" The Councillor hissed.

"I can see that."

"No, not him. Udina." The Councillor shivered. "He's starting a coup to seize power."

Shepard's allies dropped down, now it was three on one. "Give it up," Shepard growled, "it's over."

"No." The assassin half smiled. "Now it's fun."

A pistol touched the back of his head, Kirrahe had arrived. "I don't think so." He snarled. "I know you, don't I? Kai Leng."

"Well done." Leng hissed. "But I have a Council to kill." He lashed out, quicker than any human should have been able to, kicking Kirrahe in the stomach. The pistol flew from the salarian's grasp. They began to fight hand-to-hand.

Shepard charged into the fray, but Leng was too quick for him too, avoiding Shepard's swing and backhanding him. He knocked Garrus down with a crescent kick and aimed his tech attack at the turian.

He jolted and fell back. Liara flung another biotic attack at him before whipping out her handgun and firing at him.

Leng's shields were too strong, he simply dodged the next biotic attack and jumped into the air, extending his leg.

Liara dived out of the way, Kirrahe charged in again and grappled with Leng.

Leng flipped aside, Kirrahe went for his gun, scooping it up and firing it.

Leng drew a gold hilted sword and charged, spinning round the bullets that Kirrahe fired.

Kirrahe whipped out his stun baton and brought it down, but he was too late.

Leng jumped aside and spun the blade, Kirrahe cried out.

"Kirrahe!" Shepard yelled, firing his pistol at Leng.

Leng laughed and prepared to charge. Another biotic attack slammed into him, holding him in place.

Garrus activated his omni-tool and fired it at Leng, overloading his shields.

Leng snarled and broke free of Liara's control, but he was outmatched.

He turned and sprinted towards the landing pad.

Shepard ran after him, firing his pistol.

Leng dived off the edge and onto a waiting sky-car. He waved mockingly at Shepard as the sky-car sped away.

Shepard hurried back inside, Kirrahe was lying against one of the tables, bleeding heavily.

"Shepard," he rasped, "pleasure to work with you again."

"Hold on, we've got medi-gel." Shepard told him.

"Too late for me, Shepard." Kirrahe stated. "Catch him, save the Council, again." He coughed up blood. "The STG... will help Earth. I made sure of it." He slumped, eyes closed.

Kirrahe had helped them on Virmire and Sur'Kesh, now he had given his life for them here. Another friend lost in this grim war.

Shepard sighed. "Come on." He stood up. "We'll avenge him."

* * *

><p>Shepard pushed the sky-car's throttle to maximum, trying to catch up with Leng's car.<p>

Leng was giving them a hard time, weaving around every obstacle and skimming ridiculously close to the lake in attempts to make them crash.

"Incoming shuttle." Garrus warned.

Liara opened the window on her side and fired her SMG. She couldn't shoot the shuttle down, but she could at scare the pilot.

It worked, better than intended.

The shuttle veered off and straight into a column, exploding and showering burning metal into the lake.

"That only counts as one kill." Garrus opened the window on his side and fired his battle rifle at Leng's car.

"Proximity mine!" Liara warned as something fell from Leng's car.

"Not again." Shepard grimaced, swerving around the mine. They'd done this on Illium, and that had been hectic too.

Leng's car gained altitude, Shepard followed it up.

The car ahead went over a bridge, Shepard went under.

Big mistake.

The car jolted and Shepard looked up. Kai Leng was on the car's windscreen.

Shepard pulled out his pistol and fired bullets through the screen, but Leng avoided them and went to the end of the car.

He rammed his sword into the back, damaging the engines.

Shepard opened the door and leaned out, firing at Leng, Liara grabbed the controls and struggled to keep the car in the air.

A Cerberus shuttle zoomed by and Leng jumped onto it.

Liara was losing control of the car, the steering had gone and it was taking a lot of effort just to keep it airborne.

"Liara…" Garrus began.

"I know! I'm trying!" She shouted. Shepard took the controls again.

The car was going crash into a store in the upper levels.

"Oh shit!" Garrus swore.

"Brace!" Shepard yelled.

The car hit the store, smashed through the windows and screeched through the shop and out onto the walkway.

Shepard groaned and lifted his head off the dashboard. He was alive and able to move. He turned and made sure that his friends were alright.

Liara was unhurt, Garrus was fine. They'd been lucky, and that was an understatement.

Shepard kicked the door open and staggered out, pulling out his rifle.

Bullets pinged against the crashed sky-car, Cerberus. Kai Leng must have sent some troops to stall them.

An Atlas mech was stomping towards them. No way they were getting past in a hurry.

"Concentrate fire on the Atlas' screen," Shepard ordered, "but don't blow it up."

The squad began to fire on the Atlas, Garrus overloaded its shields, exposing the pilot to a volley of bullets. The mech slumped, the pilot was dead.

"Cover me!" Shepard shouted as he ran forwards, heading for the Atlas. Bullets whizzed by his head as his squad fought off the Cerberus troopers.

Shepard opened the Atlas' cockpit and threw the body out before taking the controls.

The Atlas turned round then lumbered forwards, cannon aimed at the Cerberus troopers.

Shepard fired the cannon, blasting two troopers out of cover. His squad stayed behind the Atlas, keeping infantry away.

"Hey, Shepard." Garrus called. "When do I get one of those?"

"Wait your turn, Garrus." Shepard fired a missile, it homed in on a Guardians and blew him and his shield apart.

With the Atlas stamping through the Presidium under Shepard's control, the battle was pretty one sided, Cerberus was falling back and losing soldiers.

Something hit the Atlas, Shepard looked up to see a white armoured figure on top of the Atlas, carrying a sword.

Shepard moved, the sword scraped his shoulder plate. He jumped, tackling the operative to the ground. Shepard stabbed his omni-blade into the operative.

The Atlas had taken too much fire anyway, Shepard ducked behind a bench as the mech exploded.

But Cerberus had taken severe casualties, they were losing badly.

The squad pushed forwards again. "Bailey, where's the Council?" Shepard called.

"On their way to the evacuation point, I'll send you a marker." Bailey answered. "Someone's following them, it looks like he's got… a sword?"

"Damn it!" Shepard hissed. "Double time it!"

They reached the lifts to the evacuation point.

Kai Leng was already in one with a group of Phantoms.

Shepard and his team rushed into the other one and began to ascend.

"Bailey, the assassin is on his way up," Shepard relayed, "can you stall him?"

"I'm making his elevator stop on every floor." Bailey answered.

Shepard punched out the emergency panel and climbed onto the roof, his squad followed him. They were catching up with Leng.

"There!" Garrus pointed and shouted above the noise. "Shoot the power conduits!"

Shepard took aim and took out one of them. Garrus shot the other one and the elevator stopped.

Now they were ahead of Leng, their elevator shot past, Bailey was giving their's more speed.

"There's the Council's elevator." Liara pointed.

"Jump, now!" Shepard jumped onto the elevator, followed by Garrus and Liara.

* * *

><p>Inside, Ashley heard something hit the roof. She pulled out her pistol.<p>

"Hostiles!" She hissed. "Get back!" She fired the handgun.

Shepard recoiled, Ashley had got the wrong idea completely.

The elevator stopped, Ashley covered the Councillors as they escaped, then followed them.

Their shuttle was waiting for them, in pieces. Cerberus had already destroyed it.

Ashley turned back to the door. It slid open and three armed people ran out.

Shepard, Liara and Garrus.

"Shepard?" Ashley lowered her gun, slightly. "What are you doing?"

"He's in our way," Udina shouted, "he's with Cerberus."

Garrus finished sealing the door with his omni-tool. "We've got ten minutes, tops."

"Ashley, move aside." Shepard ordered. "We're not with Cerberus, Udina is."

"You have _no evidence_," Udina protested, "as usual, Commander."

"Drop your guns," Ashley aimed her pistol at Shepard's head. "Now!"

"Ashley, we're not with Cerberus." Liara argued. "The salarian Councillor found out about Udina. That assassin on his way up here, we can't debate this!"

"Shut up, T'Soni!" Ashley pointed her gun at Liara. "Shepard asks you to jump, you jump. If he asks you to work with Cerberus, you work with Cerberus."

"That's bullshit, Ashley!" Shepard argued. "And you know it. Kirrahe died trying to stop the assassin, don't let him die in vain."

"Put the gun down," Liara pleaded, "we don't want to hurt you." She took a step forwards, pistol aimed at Udina.

Ashley fired.

Liara winced, the bullet had just missed her. "Ashley, don't!"

Shepard grimaced. "Guns down." He ordered. "Put them down, now."

The squad dropped their handguns on the ground.

"Now do you believe me, Ash?" Shepard asked.

Ashley considered. "I hope I don't regret this, Shepard."

"You won't."

Ashley turned round, pointing her gun at Udina.

Udina responded by grabbing the asari Councillor and pressing a pistol to her head. "You should have stayed away, Shepard!" He bellowed. "The Council was never going to help Earth!"

"And you think that working for Cerberus will make things better?" Shepard picked up his gun. "You think that murdering the Council will help?"

"It's a start." Udina muttered. "Cerberus _will _help humanity."

"Let her go." Shepard growled.

"Or what?"

"We'll kill you." Ashley snarled.

"I think not." Udina sneered. "None of you can hit me without killing the Councillor."

"Sometimes you get lucky." Garrus murmured.

A shot boomed and Udina fell to the ground with a hole in his head.

Garrus lowered his smoking handgun. "Bailey, the Council is safe."

* * *

><p>Kai Leng opened a secure channel to the Illusive Man as soon as his ship was away from the Citadel.<p>

"Leng reporting, the operation was a failure." He explained. "Commander Shepard saved the Council, Udina is dead."

"Udina was expendable." The Illusive Man tipped back a glass of whisky. "I must admit, I did not expect Shepard to get the better of you."

"He was not alone." Leng stated.

"Of course," the Illusive Man lit a cigarette, "he never is."

"I killed Major Kirrahe during the operation," Leng said, "but we need to deal with Shepard."

"I already have a plan, and if that does not work, then he will end up exactly where we want him." The Illusive Man told Kai. "He will have to go to Kahje, you will be ready for him."

"As you wish."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry about Kirrahe, but I didn't want to kill Thane, he would have beaten Leng anyway in my opinion. Still, at least Shepard and his squad didn't just stand around during the fight like they do in the game. <strong>_

_**Don't forget to review, I like the encouragement.**_


	11. Dark depths

_**Now for that mission on Kahje, things get a bit spooky here.**_

_**I'm drawing inspiration from KOTOR, I imagine that Manaan is slightly similar to Kahje, only the latter has jellyfish.**_

* * *

><p>Commander, you've saved our lives twice." The turian Councillor was grateful, obviously. "It's a shame that Udina had to be killed."<p>

"The damage to the Citadel was minimal." The asari Councillor added.

"Commander Shepard, Kirrahe promised to provide help from the STG," the salarian Councillor stated, "I will allow them to join your fleet, to honour him."

No fleets for Earth though. Typical.

Shepard bit his tongue. "Thank you, Councillors." Keeping the long list of profanities back.

The meeting went well enough, they let Shepard get back to the Normandy.

Only for him to run into someone familiar. "Shepard!" Someone called, with an Australian accent.

Miranda Lawson had helped Shepard take down the Collector base, the former Cerberus operative had cut ties with the Illusive Man just before the base had exploded.

"Shepard, I heard about your handiwork here." She smiled. "You never fail to cause carnage."

"Did you hear anything about this attack?" Shepard asked.

"Only that you saved the Council," Miranda shrugged, "my sources tell me that Kai Leng was involved though."

"What do you know about him?"

"Not a lot, ask your asari friend, Liara." Miranda answered. "I have got something though, some data about a Cerberus base on Kahje, they've got something big there."

Shepard remembered that Hackett had mentioned Kahje. "Let's discuss it on the ship."

* * *

><p>"Here, found it." Liara brought the hologram online. They were in the conference room, Miranda had brought Jacob Taylor with her. Ashley was also onboard the ship, she'd decided to accompany Shepard again.<p>

The hologram showed Kai Leng and some data. "He was a former N7 member," Liara read out.

"Obviously not as good as you." Garrus nudged Shepard.

"He had anti-alien beliefs and friends, the Illusive Man became interested in him," Liara scrolled through her data, "then he disappeared, becoming the Illusive Man's favourite assassin."

"Didn't know he had favourites." Jacob muttered.

"So what did you find out about Kahje?" Shepard asked Miranda.

Miranda took over the holographic projector and inserted an OSD. The hologram changed and showed what looked like a piping system. Miranda zoomed in and it became a network of tunnels surrounding what looked like a large chamber.

"Cerberus recently took over a salarian and hanar mining plant on Kahje." She explained. "The hanar government knows little about this, I was only able to find out by hacking into the Cerberus network."

"Rumour has it that the miners found something of interest, hence the salarian research team." Jacob said. "Whatever they found, it was kept secret, but Cerberus found out and got _very _interested."

"If it's enough to interest Cerberus," Miranda surmised, "then it's enough to interest _us_."

Shepard saw that she was right. Maybe the hanar could provide support if the Normandy helped them, they didn't have a big fleet but it would help, they would also have support from the drell.

"We'll set a course for Kahje." Shepard told them. "There's room on the crew deck if you need it."

* * *

><p>Joker flew them to Kahje, Shepard noticed the automated defences tracking them. Kahje relied on those defences, the hanar didn't have much of a military. Beyond Kahje, the drell were their eyes and assassins.<p>

"This one would like to know of the approaching vessel's purpose." Hanar ground control hailed them.

"This is the SSV Normandy," Joker responded, "requesting permission to dock, we've got a Spectre onboard."

"This one authorises you to dock." The hanar accepted. "This one wishes you a pleasant stay."

Joker turned the radio off. "Wow, that took some time." He remarked.

The Normandy flew over the ocean towards Kahje's capital city. It was hard to believe that there was a war on, the place was peaceful and serene. One big ocean dotted with a few islands and artificial cities.

The Normandy set down in the docking bay. No representatives met them, which was unusual. At least they didn't have to go through with administrative details.

Still, as they walked out onto the street, something was wrong.

"I know that hanar are peaceful, but why are their streets empty?" Jacob asked.

"I haven't shot anyone." Ashley folded her arms. "Don't tell me that Cerberus is here too."

Liara sighed and shook her head. "None of you read the codex, did you?" She asked. "They're in prayer."

"How could I forget?" Garrus muttered. "They even do that on the Citadel, it's hard to arrest one during prayer."

At least that meant they could get their bearings and wander around without interference. Liara was very keen to wander around, the hanar worshipped the Protheans and, according to her, they copied the architecture.

Shepard didn't have the heart to remind her that they were on a mission and that they needed to hurry. Besides, the people they needed to talk to were busy, it could wait.

* * *

><p>It took Miranda an hour to arrange transportation to the facility, citing that Shepard had Spectre status.<p>

The hanar were actually grateful, they wanted their mining facility back, and access to whatever relic had been uncovered there.

"Here we are, the sub bay." Garrus brought the shuttle in. "Maybe we should've brought Thane with us."

"His syndrome's getting worse." Shepard explained. "It wouldn't be fair on him anyway."

Garrus would be leading the second team, Ashley, Grunt and Miranda would be going with him. Shepard was taking Liara, Jacob and James.

They landed at the military outpost, they'd arranged transportation, submersibles.

The shuttle doors opened. "Let's make this quick." Shepard jumped out first, followed by his team. "Garrus, you're bravo, we're alpha."

"Got it." Garrus nodded, entering the nearest submersible. They were long cylinders just big enough to stand in, they had wings for steering.

Liara strapped herself into the pilot's seat, she seemed to know what she was doing.

"You've done this before?" Vega asked.

"I came here to see a Prothean dig site." Liara explained. "I had to learn how to pilot one of these things."

Shepard sealed the hatch, waiting for the console to confirm that the sub was watertight. "We're good to go." He called.

Liara activated the engine and the sub slid beneath the surface. The oceans were serene and calm at first, but unlike the surface, they became steadily darker. Garrus' sub followed them, both subs were armed, Shepard noticed the HUD for two mass accelerators and a torpedo launcher.

"Bravo to alpha," Garrus called, "I'm picking up energy spikes."

"Same here." Jacob took a look at the readouts. "Lots of them too."

"The facility's supposed to be offline." Miranda murmured. "There aren't any subs in the area either."

Liara steered the sub towards the facility. Shepard peered over her shoulder at the network of metal and glass tunnels running through and around the rock that lay at the centre. It was a large grey pinnacle, like the point of a spear thrust out of the ground.

"How many entrances are there?" Shepard asked.

"Two." Miranda replied. "One on the west, one on the east."

"Tell Garrus to dock at the western entrance," Shepard ordered, "we'll take the east."

"Understood, Commander."

Liara turned the sub towards the eastern docking bay.

"Shepard, I've got something." Jacob brought the radar up. "Something's coming."

"A sub?"

"Negative, too small." Jacob frowned. "But there's _lots _of them."

Liara glanced around through the screen. "Hanar, I think."

Shepard followed her line of sight, the jellyfish like beings were heading towards them, only…

Shepard recognised the glowing blue implants and rotting flesh. "They're Husks!" He realised. "Bravo team, hanar Husks are down here, ready your weapons."

"Got it." Garrus responded.

Liara activated the mass accelerators and took aim at he Husks. These ones were faster, and their tentacles were electrified.

Liara took aim and fired at the nearest one, blowing it to pieces. She continued firing, but there were just too many.

"We need to get to the docks." Shepard told her, sealing his helmet in case they were hit, the others copied his example, except for Liara who was too busy piloting the sub.

"I'm trying!" Liara pushed down on the throttle, but the sub wasn't built for speed, or combat, the weapons had just been an afterthought.

An alarm beeped, the mass accelerators had run out of ammunition. Liara diverted power to the engines.

The sub shook and the lights dimmed.

"We're losing shields!" Liara shouted. "One of them is draining power." She flicked some switches. "I'm bringing us alongside an airlock, get out as soon as we dock."

The sub jolted and Shepard heard it clang as it attached to the airlock. Jacob and James ran through the open door, which closed behind them.

Shepard grabbed Liara's arm. "We need to go, now!"

There was the sound of tearing metal and Shepard hit the side of the sub. He realised that it had fallen and was sinking.

He also realised that water was thundering into the sub through the broken hatch.

* * *

><p>"Bravo to alpha team." Garrus tried again as he left the sub. "I repeat, this is bravo to alpha, Shepard do you read me?"<p>

No response.

"Shepard, answer me damn it!" Garrus shouted.

"They're gone, Garrus." Miranda put a hand on his shoulder.

His radio buzzed. "It's Jacob, we're in the wrong place, we had to dock at one of the airlocks."

"Where's Shepard?"

Jacob paused. "He and Liara were still in the sub when it went down." He answered quietly. "We haven't seen them."

Garrus sighed. "Don't count them out yet." He muttered. "Hold position until we find some intel."

He gestured for the others to follow him. The place had become rundown since it had gone offline. The lights were either out of flashing intermittently. Every sound echoed, Garrus could hear water dripping from the ceiling. Condensation, he hoped.

"Over there." Ashley pointed. "Security mech."

Garrus nudged the fallen mech with his boot. Even if he could have brought it back online, which would have been impossible considering that the circuits had been ripped out, the mech was too badly damaged to be of any use. Garrus removed its memory core, it might shed some light on what had happened.

Nothing moved, nothing was there. That was what put him on edge. He kept expecting something to jump out from nowhere. The flashlights could only illuminate a short stretch of each tunnel.

"Blood," Miranda noticed a long trail. "Salarian from the looks of it." She was right, it was green. "It looks like their bodies were dragged somewhere."

"What for?" Grunt asked.

"Conversion." Garrus muttered. "I think we can guess what kind of artefact they found."

According to the map displayed on his visor, they were near one of the security centres. Garrus flanked the door with Ashley as Miranda bypassed the lock. Grunt charged in first, but there was no-one there.

"Check the consoles." Garrus instructed. "See what you can find."

Grunt kept watch as the others began to search for data. Garrus inserted the memory core into one of the computers and played back the recordings.

The core was damaged, the image was fuzzy. Towards the end, it looked like the base was on high alert, the LOKI mech was marching down the tunnel with its weapon drawn.

Something howled and the mech crashed forwards, it had been hit from behind.

The screen dissolved into static, that was when the mech had been destroyed.

"Unknown hostiles," Garrus muttered, "but I'd bet that Husks totalled this place and the staff."

"Garrus, come and look at this." Miranda pointed at a screen she'd brought up. "This place can use thermal signatures to track personnel." She pointed at the centre, where there was a mass of red. "Most of them are here, but there are some wandering around."

"That must be where Jacob and James are." Garrus pointed at two red dots on the east side.

"Look there." Miranda pointed. "Those two haven't moved for a while," she checked something, "the sensors mark them as unidentified."

"Shepard and Liara?"

"Could be."

Garrus took another look at the screen. "Let's hope so."

* * *

><p>"<em>You gotta go through with this, man." <em>

"_I don't want to."_

"_Just knock his fucking lights out, then rob him. Or stab him"_

"Shepard." He heard Liara call. Shepard coughed and opened his eyes. He covered his eyes as bright light stabbed into them.

He'd heard about tunnels of light when people died, was he in one?

Liara dimmed her flashlight, so he wasn't dead. "Thank the Goddess," she breathed, "I thought that you weren't going to wake up."

Shepard coughed again. "What happened?"

"Your helmet broke when the sub was hit, you were knocked out." Liara explained. "I carried you to the nearest airlock."

"I appreciate it." Shepard tried to stand and failed.

"Easy." Liara put a hand on his shoulder. "You took quite a beating and I haven't got any medi-gel." She bit her lip. "I didn't want to leave you alone."

"Where are the others?"

"No idea, I haven't been able to contact them." Liara replied. "I think that Jacob and James are close though."

Liara turned on her omni-tool, shaking some water from the device before talking. "This is Liara, can anyone hear me?" She tried. "Bravo team? Vega?"

"Liara? We thought that you were fish food." James responded, there was a lot of static, but they could hear him. "Is Shepard with you?"

"Yes, he's alive but injured." She told him. "We need some medi-gel."

Vega was silent for a moment. "We've got some, but Jacob's tried the doors, they're all sealed." He explained. "There should be a security centre near your location, or so Jacob tells me."

Liara glanced at Shepard, as if for guidance.

He nodded. "Go," he told her, "I'll be okay."

Liara looked unsure of herself. "I'll be back." She promised.

"Here." Shepard threw her a couple of thermal clips. "Stay safe."

She nodded and loaded her SMG, heading for the security centre.

Shepard reached down and pulled out his Carnifex, Wrex had insisted on giving him "a gun with a punch" before Shepard left Tuchanka.

He didn't like this, knowing that his friends were out there and he wasn't there to help them. They were capable, but he was used to being with them when the chaos began, and it always began one way or another.

He realised that most of his concern was directed at Liara.

Shepard concentrated, keeping an eye on the door, which had been wedged open, the hydraulics had given up long ago.

He tried to move again, but his legs felt weak and he gave up.

He was alone and unable to move. But that didn't worry him much.

It was his friends that he was worried about.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, we'd need cutting tools and then some to get through this." Jacob thumped the heavy alloy door. "Here's how it works, Garrus can move around in the west area, but he can't help us." Jacob explained. "Liara and Shepard are our only tickets out of here."<p>

"Terrific." James muttered, adjusting the settings on the Revenant that had been bought for the Normandy's armoury. "And Shepard's out of it."

"For the moment."

"And we're pinning our hopes on _one_ asari."

"Shepard thinks that she can manage," Jacob shrugged, "so do all the files that I've looked at."

The radio buzzed. "It's Liara," the asari said, "have you seen anything… unusual?"

"Nothing, we're stuck in this room." Jacob told her.

"I've found blood trails, and disabled mechs." Liara reported.

"Not our handiwork."

"You don't use claws." Jacob didn't like the sound of that, nor did James, Jacob saw him switch the safety off. He hoped the place had thick walls, the Revenant was going to make a mess.

"I'm going out of radio contact for a while." Liara warned them. "I'll call you later."

Jacob heard the radio shut down. "We're on our own for now."

"Terrific." James muttered.

"Unless you can turn these bulkheads into Swiss cheese," Jacob gestured at the light machine gun, "then we're staying put."

James shook his head. "I-spy then?"

"Oh please." Jacob muttered.

* * *

><p>Liara stepped over more wreckage, this tunnel had been shot up at some point. The seals had kicked in, but the water was up to her waist. There were no bodies, no automated defences either, so who had been fighting?<p>

She glanced out of the window. No sign of hanar Husks, or anything really. Even the fish were keeping their distance.

She couldn't blame them.

Liara kept her flashlight on, the power had been turned off in this section, due to the water. Just as well, if it hadn't been turned off, then she would have been turned into charcoal.

She nearly tripped over something in the water. Something heavy.

Liara reached down and found the object, pulling it out.

It was a Hornet SMG, Cerberus troopers used them. It even had the insignia on the side, that told her who had been fighting.

The SMG was battered beyond use. She ejected the thermal clips and pocketed them, dropping the SMG, she preferred the Tempest anyway.

She ducked under more wreckage, submerging for a few moments. It occurred to her that someone had put the wreckage there as a barricade, maybe they had tried to flood the tunnel to keep Cerberus, or whatever had attacked, at bay.

Liara surfaced, then yelled in fright and recoiled.

It took her a few shaky breaths to calm down, it was dead.

Rigor mortis had set in, so the body had been dead for a while, but it was hard to tell what it had been.

There was very little of it left, no head, most of the torso and the legs were gone.

But it looked vaguely human, she noticed a patch of white armour with the Cerberus insignia.

Could Cerberus have been on the defensive here? Who had they been fighting?

Not the researchers, Liara had said as much to Jacob, claws had been used.

Liara made her way around the body, stepping carefully over the debris that had sunk.

The bulkhead in front of her was sealed, a hazard warning was flashing.

Liara tried to open it, but the door remained shut.

"Warning: this area has been flooded," a VI warned her, "access is discouraged."

Liara swore under her breath. "Can the water be drained?"

"Negative, draining would result in the loss of research material." That was odd, surely the research would have been lost during the flooding.

Liara knew what she had to do. She sealed the tunnel doors behind her with her omni-tool, at least she wouldn't get Shepard killed now.

"Override the lock." She ordered the VI, taking hold of a stanchion.

"Warning: Overriding this lock will flood the tunnel you are in." The VI cautioned. "This action is not recommended."

"Override the lock." Liara repeated, trying to remain calm.

"Beginning override." The bulkhead clunked. "Have a pleasant day."

The door slid open, a torrent of water cascaded out and slammed into Liara.

She lost her grip and was thrown back into the barricade as the water filled the tunnel.

* * *

><p>Garrus took the lead again, Ashley covered their six. His visor was picking up more energy spikes, small ones, but lots of them.<p>

"Keep it tight." He whispered. "Weapons ready, safeties off."

"You got it." Ashley flicked her Avenger onto fully automatic.

Something crashed in the darkness ahead. Garrus brought them to a halt.

"Get ready." He ordered. "Fire on my order."

He heard footsteps hitting the ground, running.

Something shot out of the gloom, with an unearthly blue light show, a Husk.

Only this one had been a salarian, its horns had become long and metallic and its right arm was little more than two blades parallel to each other, the left seemed to have some sort of tech weapon attached.

"Open fire!" Garrus shouted, firing his Vindicator. Their weapons blazed and made the tunnel flash with light.

There seemed to be an unending mass of salarian Husks. They were weak, it only took a couple of rounds to kill them, but they were numerous and fast.

They kept firing tech attacks at the squad, and they seemed to have a close range electrical attack that took their shields offline.

"Hold them back!" Garrus yelled.

His rifle hissed and he reloaded. But it was only delaying the inevitable.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Stay tuned for more terror on Kahje, and keep sending reviews. <strong>_

_**I hope you like the new Husks I'm making up, like these salarian and hanar ones. They say variety is the spice of life, the Reapers would think of the spice of death.**_


	12. Shots in the dark

__ _**The next chapter was a bit short, so I decided to just slot it in with chapter twelve.**_

* * *

><p>"I spy," Jacob sighed, bored already, "with my little eye: something beginning with W."<p>

James glanced out of the window. "Water."

"Yeah."

"I spy something beginning with W."

"Window." Jacob folded his arms as James nodded. "I spy with my bored eye…"

Something thumped, both men stood up and grabbed their weapons.

"That you, Liara?" Jacob called.

No answer, but there was more thumping.

"Garrus?" James asked.

More thumping, then some kind of scraping sound. A sickly howl followed.

"That's not any of them," Jacob muttered, "I hope."

"Whatever it is, it's not getting through the bulkhead." James shrugged. "At least we're safe here."

Jacob checked his omni-tool. "Liara, are you there?"

No response. She had said that she'd be out of contact, but it had been ten minutes.

"Liara, do you read me?" He boosted the signal. There was some kind of dull echoing sound. "Garrus, can you hear me?" Jacob switched channels, he got static this time. "Shepard, are you still there?"

The static fizzed. "Shepard here." The Commander responded. "What's happening?"

"No contact from Garrus, and we've lost…" James stepped in front of him and mouthed "no", he didn't want to worry Shepard. "Uh, we've lost our maps, so we're a bit confused." Jacob lied.

"Where's Liara?"

James swore quietly.

Jacob shook his head. "We don't know." He answered. "She's not responding."

Shepard sighed. "Keep trying, I'll…" He paused. "What was…" They heard something screech and a gunshot, then the static crackled back into the radio.

* * *

><p>"God! How many were there?" Ashley breathed.<p>

"That wasn't a fight." Grunt complained. "That was just slaughter."

"A slaughter that has us low on ammunition." Garrus checked his rifle. The horde of salarian Husks had been dealt with, but they had expended many thermal clips.

Garrus also noticed that his radio was crackling, but every time he checked, he got static. Maybe Shepard was trying to call him. It appeared that no one on the eastern side could communicate with the west, and vice-versa. Clever? No, not really.

Garrus stepped over more bodies, Grunt had been right about slaughter, but it had been a near thing.

"Garrus," Miranda called softly, pointing at something. "Look."

Garrus followed her line of sight to a camera.

It was facing away, but then it began to turn, little lights showed that it was still online.

Why were the cameras still on? Was someone still alive?

"Let's hope that whoever's running that thing is still sane." Garrus muttered as they moved on.

* * *

><p><em>Goddess, that hurt!<em>

That was her first thought, the second was whether she was dead or not.

It had been ten minutes since she had last spoken to anyone, but only a few moments since she had overridden the bulkhead in the tunnel.

The water had settled, and she definitely wasn't dead. Liara had blacked out for a moment. She swam through the bulkhead, her gamble had paid off, the water level in the next room had decreased. Liara surfaced and gulped down air, that had been too close.

Something didn't feel right.

Liara looked down, she could see something secured to the research tables.

Something that resembled a large skeletal finger, made of bluish metal.

Reaper tech.

Liara pulled herself up onto the gantry above and sat with her back to the wall, catching her breath. "Shepard? Are you still there?"

The radio crackled. "Liara? I was starting to get worried." She heard him sigh with relief. "Listen, watch out for Husks." He warned her. "An ex-salarian tried to kill me."

"Thanks for the warning," Liara checked her pistol, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think something's sprained, but my legs still work."

"Just stay where you are."

"I'm taking orders from a Doctor now?" Shepard chuckled.

"Always do what the Doctor orders." Liara smirked, remembering an old human saying Shepard had joked about. "Just stay put, I'll be back."

According to her maps, each section had maintenance passages for access, this was one of them. Provided that they weren't flooded, she could make it through the vents.

Liara walked across the gantry and pulled out the vent cover, she briefly remembered evading Cerberus troops on Mars using vents, and crouched down to enter.

She knew that she was close to the security centre, with luck she could override the systems and drain the water, find a way to get Jacob and James to Shepard's position.

Liara finally emerged from the vent, kicking out the panel. She looked down and cursed her luck.

The security centre was flooded too, but luckily, the controls were on a balcony looking across the eastern part of the facility. All she had to do was make her way over.

Something cold touched her throat.

"Not who I was expecting." A cold voice murmured. "But I think that you'll be of more value."

* * *

><p>Garrus ducked under another piece of wreckage, it looked like Cerberus had been trying to hold someone off.<p>

Quite a few of them had been shot in the head or thrown into walls. He could've sworn that Thane had been here, he used biotics and sniper rifles.

The place had a complicated security system, they had to stop at each checkpoint and override controls, which sealed the tunnels they had already been through.

It was a countermeasure, but for what?

Something moved up ahead, the IR filters in Garrus' visor picked it up.

Something flashed and dazzled him, Miranda tackled him to the ground as a rifle fired.

"Sniper!" Ashley yelled, firing her rifle down the tunnel.

Garrus got to his feet and fired carefully, he was down to his last two clips.

Whoever it was, they moved _very _quickly and slipped away.

"After him!" Grunt bellowed.

Garrus stopped him. "No, he might have set an ambush."

The krogan grumbled, but obeyed.

"Reckon that was a survivor?" Miranda wondered.

"Maybe." Garrus muttered. "Whoever it was, they certainly didn't want to stop and chat."

"Fuck!" Ashley hissed. "My flashlight's out."

Garrus sighed. "Turn them off," he told them, "I'll use my visor." He flicked on the night vision. He led them carefully, knowing that they didn't have the same benefits, they didn't have custom visors made for every situation.

They stepped into the next lab, Garrus paused for a second. "Lights on."

Miranda and Grunt switched on their lights, scanning the room.

"My God!" Miranda whispered.

Piles of corpses had been gathered in the corners, separated by race. Salarians in one corner, humans in another, hanar in the next. There were even a few drell in the last corner.

"Dead meat." Grunt shrugged.

Garrus shook his head.

It was then that he noticed the targeting laser on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"I wonder what <em>you <em>are doing here?" The man moved round, keeping the blade against he throat.

Kai Leng.

He was wearing a sealed helmet and was carrying various gadgets.

Liara didn't respond, wondering how she could use her biotics without him noticing.

"Now then, where's Shepard?" Leng demanded.

Liara didn't say anything.

He pressed the blade harder, drawing a little blood from her throat. "Here's how it works, I ask you to call Shepard, you call him." He explained icily. "If you don't, you die."

"I won't help you, Leng." Liara retorted.

Leng half smiled. "Fine." He sneered. "I'll just have to bring Shepard your head."

He drew his arm back, Liara struck with her biotics, flinging the sword from his grasp.

Leng lashed out with a punch and hit her in the stomach, winding her. He readied a tech attack.

Liara whipped out her pistol and fired as she straightened up, Leng dodged, but it bought her time.

The assassin launched a high kick and sent the pistol flying, Liara threw him back with her biotics and drew her SMG.

Leng swung under the gantry, how he avoided the hail of bullets was anyone's guess, he swung up and landed in front of Liara, grabbing the SMG.

He was trying to force it towards her head and he was winning.

Liara moved aside, still holding the SMG. She pulled him with her, into the water below.

Liara kicked past him and onto the balcony ladder, climbing as fast as she could.

She ran to the controls, which one?

Leng surfaced, she began to push all of the buttons, half of them didn't work.

"Warning: beginning drainage. All staff must ascend to the balconies inside the labs and security stations." The VI announced. "Have a pleasant day."

The kinetic barriers activated, Leng was trapped under them. The floor opened and mass effect generators pushed the water out, Leng with it.

With the helmet on he wouldn't drown, but he would be gone for a while.

The floor sealed, the water was gone and so was Leng.

All she had to do now was get James and Jacob moving.

* * *

><p>"You're seriously trying to tell me," Jacob muttered, "that you took down <em>two <em>Harvesters?"

"Best part, I found an egg and taught the hatchling how to fly." James grinned.

"The Alliance didn't teach you that bullshit."

"It's a gift."

The bulkhead thumped, the two of them grabbed their weapons again.

The doors slid open and the they aimed their weapons and flashlights through the gap.

Liara walked through the doors, shielding her eyes against the light.

"Took your time." Jacob lowered his shotgun.

"I ran into Kai Leng." She explained.

"You must have been born under a lucky star then." Jacob raised his eyebrows. "Not many escape him alive."

"Lucky star?"

"It's a human thing." James stated. "Where's Shepard?"

"I'll take you to him."

Liara led them through the tunnels, weapon drawn the whole time, she was wary of their surroundings. It was as if she expected Leng to jump out of the nearest wall and cut them to pieces. Or Husks, they were around too.

It took them fifteen minutes to reach Shepard's position. He was leaning against the wall, but was standing with a Carnifex in his hand.

"Cavalry's here, Loco." James smirked. "Lola saved our asses."

"Loco?" Liara frowned.

"Lola?" Jacob frowned too.

James shrugged. "Suits them, Loco and Lola."

Jacob busied himself dispensing medi-gel, within two minutes, Shepard was able to walk again. Jacob noticed the dead salarian Husk in the doorway.

"New one." James prodded it with his Revenant. "Looks like a devilish little thing."

"Yeah," Shepard pulled out his Valkyrie, "and this whole station is crawling with them."

* * *

><p>Garrus jumped aside as the bullet narrowly missed him.<p>

Another Husk, only this one was using a sniper rifle of some kind.

Miranda took cover as it threw a biotic attack at her, she fired her SMG at it.

"Grunt, cover me." Ashley called as Grunt fired his shotgun at the Husk.

Ashley primed a grenade and threw it up onto the balcony. The Husk jumped off the platform as the grenade exploded.

Grunt charged into it and fired his shotgun, blowing it in half. "Yeah!" He whooped.

The Husk twitched and died, the lights dimming.

"Hold on, that looks like…" Miranda shone her flashlight on its face, "a drell?"

Garrus kept his rifle pointed at it as he examined it. "It _was _a drell." He confirmed. The drell had been altered, its eyes were two large cybernetics and its legs were built for speed and jumping. It looked like the Reapers had made them into biotic snipers.

Assassins, maybe Thane had impressed them.

Garrus shook his head. "We're almost there, follow my lead."

"As long as I get to hurt something." Grunt muttered.

* * *

><p>"Reaper tech." Shepard pointed at the objects on the lab tables. "I guess we know what happened to the people here."<p>

"Yeah." Jacob agreed. "It's like playing with fire."

"If the artefact here is a Reaper one," Liara surmised, "then we should destroy this place."

"Agreed." Shepard nodded.

"Husks!" James raised his Revenant and opened fire, the weapon boomed as streams of high velocity slugs raced towards the salarian Husks, which had been nicknamed Devils.

Liara flung a singularity at them, catching many of them in the vortex.

James riddled them with bullets. "Nice one, Lola!" He yelled.

Shepard fired his omni-tool, an orb of fire flashed into the Husks and burnt them to cinders. Jacob continued to fire his shotgun into them, ripping them apart.

"Loco!" James shouted. "On your right!"

Shepard turned and put two bullets through the head of a drell Husk.

A couple of hanar Husks (Stingers) closed in. James turned and shot them down.

"We're still impressive, Commander." Jacob reloaded his shotgun. "The Reapers should be scared."

"We'll give them reason." Shepard began to hack the next door. "If we get out of here alive."

* * *

><p>It took them a few minutes to notice the camera watching them, tracking their movement through the lab.<p>

A lab piled high with corpses.

"That's sick." Jacob grimaced.

"It's irony." Liara pointed out. "They were researching the Reaper's tools, and now the Reapers are using them as tools. They're experimenting with new Husks."

"Like I said, sick."

"Quiet." Shepard gestured at the camera with his rifle. Being watched like this couldn't help but remind him of Project Overlord, all of the cameras had been watching like this.

He didn't want to disable it, in case someone sane was using it, it might come in useful later. They had two more problems. Every door the opened made the one behind them to seal and they only had one submersible that wasn't big enough for six humans, a turian and a krogan.

Shepard didn't want to leave anybody behind.

As they came closer to the next checkpoint, his radio began to crackle.

"Garrus here… if you… near…" The transmission was garbled.

"Garrus?" Shepard tried to boost the signal. "What's your status?"

"Closer… to…. better… cameras active… in…" The transmission broke up completely.

"The closer we get to the centre, the closer we are to them." Liara guessed. "If we can make it to the centre, we could contact and meet them."

"It's worth a shot." James agreed.

"Where is everyone?" Jacob murmured. "We haven't seen any Husks in a while."

"Stay sharp." Shepard told them, opening the next door and sealing the one behind them.

Shepard stopped and listened, he thought that he could a sound like breathing. He swept the room with his flashlight.

There was a lone volus stood swaying in the room.

"A survivor." Liara breathed. "Hello? Are you alright?"

The volus turned and began to stagger towards them, one hand raised as if asking for help.

"He must be hurt." Jacob put away his shotgun and began to approach the volus.

Liara frowned, something wasn't right. The volus sounded like he was breathing, but his suit didn't appear to be working. No lights were on and part of the suit was breached. She could see where the skin had peeled away in the atmosphere.

She could see glowing lights and rotten grey skin.

"Get back!" She threw the volus across the room, barely hearing Jacob's protests as the volus slammed into the wall.

The room shuddered as the volus exploded, bits of metal and charred flesh flying through the air.

"Jesus!" James exclaimed. "They're turning them into bombs?"

"I hope that Garrus doesn't fall for that trick." Shepard muttered, taking the lead again.

The place was getting worse, not that it had ever been pleasant to start with.

The blood trails were everywhere, colours mixed together on the floor and walls. It was like walking on someone's grave, which the deceased could rise out of at any moment.

They were getting closer. The sights were becoming even more grotesque, torn corpses lay in the hallway, what was left of their faces contorted in pain and terror.

Liara felt her stomach heave and fought to keep the vomit down.

If this was just outside the Reaper artefact, then what was waiting for them?

* * *

><p>"Mutated salarians, hanar and now drell." Ashley muttered. "As if we didn't have enough problems."<p>

Garrus concentrated on hacking the door controls, he'd tried to contact Shepard a while ago to warn him, now they had to try and meet him.

"Keep me covered." Garrus ordered as he heard more screeching from the Devils trying to claw their way through the doors behind them.

"Those doors will hold them, Garrus." Miranda reminded him.

"Forgive if I don't want to take chances." Garrus muttered, fiddling with the panel. "But a horde of angry Husks is enough to make me nervous."

He knew that the door was armoured, but the Husks were getting around somehow, either through brute force or they had found another way around.

"Got it!" Garrus hissed. "Ashley, Grunt, you go in first."

The two of them entered the last checkpoint, weapons raised, Garrus and Miranda covered their backs before following them.

Garrus locked the doors behind them, not wanting to risk leaving them to the lockdown. "Now we can relax." He sighed. "That's _two _doors between us and them."

"Have you given any thought to escaping?" Miranda asked.

"I was hoping that Shepard would have an idea." Garrus admitted. "I doubt that the submersible can get us out of here, even if we did make it back, it's too small."

Garrus began to work on the next door lock.

"Access denied." The VI announced. "Only authorised personnel may enter."

Garrus ignored it and began to tamper with the panel.

A loud speaker over his head blared into life. "Intruders! Why are you in _my _facility?" It sounded like a salarian, one with a short temper too.

"We're here on Spectre business." Garrus wondered if the salarian could hear them. "Let us through."

"No! This is _my _facility!" The salarian yelled. "I'll deal with you, yes! You can be my test subjects, for my masters' creations."

Garrus heard one of the doors open behind them. "Shit!" He cursed. "Miranda, take over." He grabbed the bench on the side and dragged it across the room to make a crude barricade. "Pool ammo, we need to buy Miranda time."

They raised their weapons. "Short, controlled bursts." Ashley reminded them.

"Whatever, can't burst fire a shotgun." Grunt muttered.

They heard the Husks hammering on the door, screeching and scraping their claws down the metal.

"Good luck, guys." Garrus murmured.

"I don't need luck," Grunt growled, "I've got ammo."

The door was starting t buckle, something heavy was hitting it, it sounded like a battering ram pounding against the metal.

Garrus checked the clip in his Vindicator, it was running out, he'd have to use his sidearm soon.

There was more screeching, Miranda was still having no luck with the door, whoever was unleashing the Husks on them was doing his best to keep the doors sealed.

The VI wasn't helping either, Miranda had become frustrated with it telling her to leave and had ripped out the wires to the speakers.

The door now had a gap, Garrus could see the Husks trying to claw their way in.

"Any grenades?"

Ashley lobbed one through the gap, blood and oil spurted through the broken door, long with a clawed arm.

"It's a start." Grunt muttered, aiming his shotgun.

* * *

><p>Shepard entered first with Jacob, their surroundings had changed completely now.<p>

This tunnel had been bored into the rock. It had been covered in sea plants on the outside, but in here it was a dull red.

"I think this was a meteor." Liara murmured.

"Careful." Shepard told her. "We don't know what's in here."

The radio crackled. "Shepard… need support… open…"

Shepard gestured for his team to follow him and set off at a run, heading for the west side of the base, now they had access to it.

The static began to clear. "Shepard, did you hear me?" It was Garrus, Shepard could hear gunfire in the background. "We need to get these doors open now!"

"I copy." Shepard responded. "We're coming, just hold on." He found the doors, he could hear the fire fight behind them. "Get these doors open."

Liara began to hack the system, overriding it from the inside.

The doors slid open. "Come on!" Shepard shouted, giving them covering fire.

He counted them in, Miranda, Garrus, Ashley and Grunt. Liara sealed the doors.

"Took your time, Shepard." Garrus panted.

"Took the scenic route." Shepard shrugged.

"Yeah," Garrus took a thermal clip offered by James and reloaded his rifle, "the locals are really friendly."

* * *

><p>Shepard took the lead as they ascended the stairs to the heart of the pinnacle. It was getting hotter inside, like they were standing near a furnace.<p>

Shepard reached the top of the stairs and looked around, rifle following his line of sight.

"Found our maniac." Ashley murmured, pointing at a lone figure standing near a railing with computers. A blast shield was up behind the railings.

Shepard gestured for Grunt and James to stay close as he approached the salarian.

The salarian noticed them and grabbed a pistol from the desk.

"Drop it!" James barked.

"Or get shot." Grunt threatened.

"No, no, no." The salarian rambled. "Masters will save me, yes, yes, yes." He hit a button on the console.

The blast shield clanked then descended. A fierce red glow emanated from behind it.

"My God!" Jacob gasped.

Behind the shield was a large blue metallic construct, shaped like a clawed hand.

Pipes and tubes were rumbling along it, steam rose from vents.

Corpses lay next to it, mechanical arms swooped down to pluck them up and feed them into the machine.

It was making Husks.

"Already sent many to masters." The salarian babbled. "No use here, no, no. Many sent to masters for war, yes, yes, yes."

"He's lost it." James muttered.

The heat made sense, it was sat over a fissure, over lava. It was being powered by heat, geothermal energy.

The salarian was laughing madly. "Yes, more bodies, yes!" He stopped and turned suddenly. "What, you want me to ascend?"

A panel opened, a red glow appeared.

"Get away from it!" Shepard shouted, ducking behind a pillar.

The salarian stayed where he was, the beam lashed him and turned him to ash.

"That thing needs to go!" Garrus yelled. "We need heavy weapons!"

"We haven't got any!" Liara shouted back.

The Reaper device made a buzzing sound and gurgled. More Husks poured out of the machine, Devils and Stingers. A drell Husk appeared on top of it with a rifle. Volus Husks waddled towards them, groaning and staggering.

"Open fire!" Shepard bellowed.

The gunfire was deafening, James rolled out into the centre of the walkway and began to unload the Revenant's magazine, shredding the Husks.

Garrus shot the drell off the machine and into the fissure below. Liara caught the volus in a singularity and made them explode near the machine.

It howled with a metallic scream.

"That's it!" Miranda realised. "Cover Liara, she can damage it with those volus Husks!"

James yelled a war cry and let loose again. "This is for Earth!"

The machine began to sweep the walkway with its beam, Jacob tackled James into cover. The beam cut the walkway apart, a long blackened gap where James had been.

Rifle fire was hitting their positions, more drell Husks (Hunters as Garrus called them) were appearing. The Stingers and Devils were numerous enough to overrun them.

It unloaded more Husks, how many could it make?

It wouldn't be making anymore.

Liara grabbed more volus Husks and hurled them into the "eye" of the machine.

The machine screamed again and the place began to shake. It was toppling into the fissure.

"Warning: extreme damage detected." The VI announced calmly. "Evacuation recommended, opening all doors."

"Come on," Shepard shouted, "we are leaving!"

They ran, leaving the Husks to perish as the facility began to fall apart. Rocks were already falling from the ceiling, the walkways were starting to collapse and the base was flooding.

They sprinted to the docking bay, aware that the place was falling down around them.

"Access to escape vessels granted." The VI stated. "Have a pleasant day."

"Forget the sub," Garrus pointed at the signs, "we can use the pods."

Shepard followed his advice and ran down the hall with his team in tow. The escape vessels were effectively escape pods but they were the only way off the station.

Shepard stopped by the nearest one. "Everybody in." He called. He counted them in again before jumping in and sealing the harness.

"Escape pod launching." The VI inside grated. "In three, two, one."

The pod shuddered as it was spat out of the facility. As they sped away, Shepard saw the facility falling apart through the narrow window. The pinnacle had disintegrated, the Reaper machine had been destroyed. The water had cooled and sealed the fissure, burying the Reaper tech. A watery grave for the Husks and Reaper device.

He sat back, breathing a sigh of relief. Liara, sat opposite him, looked just as fatigued. "Close." She panted.

"Again." Shepard agreed. They seemed to end up doing the craziest things, but if they didn't go around solving these problems, then who would?

"I don't know whether the hanar will pleased that we stopped a Reaper plot," Garrus chuckled, "or pissed that we just wrecked their mine."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hit meter seems to be working again, but I still like reviews. <strong>_

_**Anyway, next mission is Rannoch, hope you're still enjoying Galaxy on fire.**_


	13. Turning the tables

_**A big thank you for everyone who's read, reviewed and added to alerts/favourites, it's nice to know that I can actually write and get praise for it. I'm confident about my other projects now.**_

_**Anyway, Rannoch. Don't worry about this project, I'm doing it first even if it kills me, I'm doing this as quickly as I can and I have the gist of the story after playing ME3.**_

* * *

><p>The hanar had eventually signed up, after being persuaded that it had been a Reaper artefact they had uncovered, not a Prothean one.<p>

But now they had a bigger challenge, get the quarians to help them, Shepard had a feeling that it would involve geth.

Joker brought them into the far system, checking the sensors. "Found a quarian ship," he checked the scanners, "they're hailing us. They wish to come aboard."

"Permission granted." Shepard nodded.

"Aye aye, Commander." Joker sent the message.

The quarian ship docked with the Normandy, four quarian admirals came aboard, Shepard knew all four of them. Zaal'Koris, Daro'Xen, Shaala'Ran and Han'Gerrel.

A peacemaker, a scientist, a neutralist and a warmonger.

They met in the conference room, Shepard found it difficult to read their expressions though their masks. He explained the war to them, briefly, he had the impression that they were impatient to leave again.

"I'm afraid that we cannot help you at this moment." Gerrel shook his head. "We have our own problems."

What a surprise. Everyone seemed to have a bad dose of: _I'm sorry we can't stop the end of the galaxy, we've got our own smaller problems to deal with_. Fair enough, but it was still irritating.

"What he means is that we are busy fighting for our homeworld." Xen added.

"And wiping out our own creations." Koris muttered darkly.

"We _will _take back the homeworld," Gerrel said firmly, "or die trying."

"Admirals," Shepard decided to stop their quarrelling, "I am willing to help, because we need the quarian fleet."

"I was just about to ask." A new voice said. Shepard looked up to see a female quarian enter the room. "Tali'Zorah'vas'Normandy at your service." Tali, an energetic quarian who had helped them to stop Saren and the Collectors, was a good friend to Shepard. In return, he'd saved her from exile, taking back the quarian homeworld would be another debt to repay. But when it came to friends, Shepard was happy to help.

"Admiral." Koris nodded, it seemed that Tali had gone up in the world too.

"The war is not going as well as Han'Gerrel suggests." Tali tapped some commands into the holographic projector. The image showed a planet with two fleets above, quarian and geth.

Among the geth fleet was a massive ship, bigger than an Alliance dreadnaught, perhaps big enough to make the Destiny Ascension back off.

"I thought that we'd dealt with the geth heretics." Garrus murmured.

Gerrel glanced at him, Shepard couldn't tell if he was scowling. Shepard had thought that the geth deserved a better chance, so he and Legion had rewritten them.

Surely Legion wouldn't have wanted war?

"You did." Tali tapped in more commands, a red pulse emanated from the planet and enveloped the geth fleet. "There is a Reaper signal coming from Rannoch, it's making the geth fleet stronger and is also controlling them."

"Not again." Garrus shook his head.

Shepard folded his arms, considering. "What do you need us to do?"

"We need you to infiltrate the dreadnaught," Gerrel pointed at the holographic representation of the ship, "and destroy it."

"Destroying the heretic dreadnaught will destroy a potential resource." A mechanical voice stated. "We have calculated another option."

Gerrel turned, gasped and reached for his handgun, he quickly remembered that the weapon had been taken. "How the hell did _that _get in here?" He demanded.

"I smuggling it onboard." Tali explained, sounding a little mischevious. Still, Tali had good reasons for her actions.

Legion, the geth that had showed Shepard that the synthetics could be allies, was standing in the doorway. "Shepard Commander." It acknowledged. "We have been attempting to locate the Old Machine's signal." He stepped up to the holographic projector, the quarians moved aside. "We have pinpointed two sites of activity." Two red dots, one above Rannoch, one on the surface. "This one is a heretic space station, destroying it will deny supplies for the heretic fleet. This one is a stronghold for the heretics on Rannoch."

"Which one is broadcasting the signal?" Liara asked, frowning at the two dots.

"We do not know," Legion's face plates rose as if he was raising nonexistent eyebrows, "the heretics have secure firewalls, we could only find these locations. However, destroying the station provides a high probability of decreasing the signal strength, it will put the heretic fleet at a disadvantage."

Shepard considered his options. "Tali, Ashley, grab your gear." He instructed. "Legion, can you provide support."

"We only have a few ships, a full scale assault will result in critical mission failure." Legion stated. "However, we can infiltrate the station and remove defences."

"Sounds good to me." Shepard nodded. "Admirals, keep your distance until we've destroyed the station and are prepared to land on Rannoch."

He just hoped that his crew could keep them in line.

* * *

><p>Joker brought the Normandy in, using the stealth systems. The station looked much like the heretic station in the Sea of Storms system, the one where they had rewritten the heretics, for all the good it had done.<p>

"If they see us…" Joker pointed at the group of geth ships being repaired near the station. "We're so screwed." He muttered.

"Geth don't use windows, remember?" Shepard prompted. "Structural weaknesses."

"Yeah, I bet they're thinking: _stupid organics won't try that twice_."

Shepard left him to carry on piloting and entered the airlock. Tali folded her arms as Shepard checked his omni-tool.

"What?" He asked.

"Still using Logic Arrest?" She asked.

"Yes." Shepard answered. "They're the best."

"Not for shield boosting." Tali shook her head, showing hers off. "You need a Nexus."

"How about you two talk tech later." Ashley suggested. "When we're not at risk of being shot to pieces."

"Sorry, Ashley." Tali shrugged. Ashley and Shepard sealed their helmets in place.

The Normandy clunked as it docked with the station, the airlock remained closed.

There was a hiss and the geth door opened, Legion had hacked into the geth network. Shepard and his squad moved carefully, there wasn't much gravity, or air.

"Keep it tight." Shepard instructed. "Let's do this quietly."

"You got it." Ashley didn't sound too happy about stealth. "Watch out for flashlight heads."

Legion kept on opening doors for them and diverting patrols, their aim was to reach the controls and activate the self destruct. They could have asked the quarians to get their fleet to destroy the station, but the geth fleet would have come for them. All the quarians could do was hold their ground. If Legion was right, then destroying the station would weaken the geth fleet, Legion planned to send some true geth to storm the dreadnaught whilst it was in disarray.

"What if the geth decide to engage the quarian fleet now?" Ashley wondered aloud.

"The Creator fleet is still dangerous." Legion had heard her. "The heretics are waiting until they can reach full strength, once the vessels you saw are repaired…"

"Then the geth wipe out the quarians." Ashley finished. "No pressure then."

An alarm began to blare.

"That wasn't us." Tali muttered. "Legion?"

"Alert, heretic runtimes are downloading to mobile platforms." Legion warned them. "Error, firewall has detected us, we will attempt to hinder heretics."

Shepard gestured for the squad to hurry. "Weapons free." He told them.

They entered the next room, geth troopers were waiting for them. The squad opened fire, Tali kept draining geth shields and blasting them apart with her shotgun.

Something flashed in front of them, a beam narrowly missed Ashley. "Hoppers!" She shouted.

Those things, they had been a pain during the hunt for Saren, they were still a pain. Shepard fired his omni-tool at it, hitting the geth with a blast of fire.

They moved on before the body had finished burning, Legion was also trying to reach the control centre, the heretics had pinpointed Legion's location.

Shepard and his squad battled through the geth standing in their way and arrived at the centre of the station.

After hacking through the door, Legion met them inside. The geth reloaded its sniper rifle, expecting more heretics to follow.

"Shepard Commander, we will need time to breach the heretic security systems and activate the self destruct sequence." Legion explained. "You will need to stall heretic forces."

"So we hold them off from here?" Tali guessed.

"Negative, there is another option, one with a high probability of success." Legion brought up a hologram of a four legged machine with a long neck. A Colossus.

"We can take control of this platform," Legion said, "Shepard Commander can control this unit remotely to destroy heretic reinforcements."

They didn't have much time, and Shepard knew just how deadly a Colossus could be.

Shepard nodded and Legion brought the controls of the Colossus online. The view through the HUD of the Colossus was different to any other, reams of code rolled past as the shields and weapons activated. Legion adjusted and the data came through in English, for Shepard's benefit.

The heretic geth were approaching, lots of them. They halted, perhaps they hadn't expected the Colossus to be active.

Shepard didn't give them time to work it out, he fired the Colossus' pulse cannon and blew several of the geth apart.

The geth began to take cover, Shepard shredded the ones still exposed with the machine gun style pulse weapon.

Geth with rocket launchers were coming, but their weapons were still little match for the Colossus. Shepard continued to blast and riddle the heretics with the Colossus' awesome firepower.

Legion had just cracked the firewall, now he was working on overloading the critical systems.

Things were getting harder for Shepard too, the heretics had brought a pair of Armatures online. The Armatures were smaller and not as heavily armed as the Colossus, but they were still a hazard.

The bigger walker's shields were starting to fail, it was taking to much fire.

"Hurry up, Legion." Ashley noticed the predicament.

"80% complete." Legion stated. "90%."

The Colossus lurched forwards, one of its front legs had been blown off. Shepard compensated, but the damage was done. A geth Prime fired its weapon into the Colossus' head and the screen went dark.

"The Colossus is down." Shepard pulled out his viper, there was still a fair distance between them and the geth. He put a round through the first hostile's chest, but more were pouring in, including the Prime and the two Armatures.

"100%." Legion finished. "Overload in five minutes."

"Follow Legion!" Shepard shouted over the gunfire. "We'll use a fighter to escape."

They ran after Legion, the geth never got lost, he had obviously downloaded schematics at some point. Legion led them into the hanger bay and hopped into the nearest fighter. It didn't come with seats for organics, Shepard and his squad just sat where they could hang onto something.

"Joker, we're coming out in a geth fighter." Shepard reported. "Watch your fire."

Legion flew the fighter out of the hanger, speeding away from the exploding station. As the station was torn apart, they saw the geth fleet move in, expecting the quarians to be there.

They had given their enemies ground, the quarians were no in position to begin a planetary assault.

"Just waggle the wings so I know it's you." Joker requested.

That would have been easy, except for the fact that the fighter lacked wings.

It would be a bad end to be blown up by their own helmsman.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry if this chapter took me a while, I was trying to come up with something more original. I also apologise for this chapter being short, but I wanted to get it out of the way.<strong>_


	14. Creator versus Created

_**Now for another plot change, enjoy…**_

* * *

><p>The heretic fleet was in disarray, the quarians were holding their ground and suffering fewer casualties than expected.<p>

But they would still lose unless something was done.

Once again, it was down to Shepard.

He checked his rifle, glancing briefly at his allies. Tali hadn't insisted on coming, but Shepard needed her tech skills. It was also high time that she saw the homeworld she had been fighting for. Liara and Garrus were also present. Garrus would be going in with Legion to deal with security and acquire transport.

Liara looked up from her customised pistol, they were all a bit edgy, Shepard could see that she was nervous. Tali was gripping her seat tight enough to leave an impression, Legion was the only one who was calm, although he seemed to be a bit wary too.

The shuttle put down near a river and let Garrus and Legion out, the shuttle didn't linger and shot off again, Tali nearly fell out trying to look outside.

The shuttle put down again, near a valley, depositing the rest of the squad.

Tali bounced out and surveyed the land around her, awestruck and mystified.

She noticed Shepard and Liara waiting for her. "Sorry." She murmured.

"It's okay," Shepard smiled, "take your time."

Tali surveyed the valley. "I'd have the house just here." She pointed at the ground where she stood. "The window would be right here." She drew a square in the air with her fingers, looking out over the valley. She sighed. "But after we've dealt with the geth."

* * *

><p>They'd been dropped away from the geth stronghold, it had anti-air cannons, and no-one wanted to tangle with them. Shepard ducked down behind the rocks and took a look through his scope. They were above the base now, on the edge of a cliff.<p>

"What can you see?" Liara asked.

"Lots of geth." Shepard replied. The base was a geth construction, curved purple metal and ceramics with turquoise lights blinking like dazzled eyes. He could see heavy geth units, Armatures and Colossuses, on patrol. Brute force wasn't an option.

Shepard searched for another route. He spotted a narrow gully that offered them some cover.

It took them ten minutes to descend to the gully and approach the base, by which time Garrus and Legion had reported in.

Shepard led his allies into the perimeter, the geth security was at its weakest here.

But there was still going to trouble.

A small squad of geth troopers spotted them and opened fire, alerting the base.

Shepard and his team returned fire, taking out the troopers, but reinforcements would be coming. They had to do this quickly and aggressively.

Shepard vaulted over a low wall, taking cover next to the door.

A jet of fire streamed past his head, a geth Destroyer was waiting for them.

Shepard waited for a break in the flames before lobbing a grenade at the geth. Pieces of twisted metal flew out after the grenade detonated.

Shepard ran through the corridor and into the compound. Alarms were still blaring, it sounded like Garrus and Legion couldn't do much about them.

* * *

><p>"Can't we turn them off?" Garrus asked, irritated by the wailing drone.<p>

"The alarms will no deactivate until the heretics have eliminated us." Legion answered, matter-of-factly as usual. "They cannot be deactivated by us."

Garrus shook his head and stopped at the corner, glancing round. It looked like Shepard was doing the most damage, because geth resistance here was thin.

Garrus and Legion picked off the two guards in the garage.

The place was full of odd looking purple craft, hovercraft as Legion explained. They didn't look as sturdy as a Mako, but they had a nasty looking pulse turret. They'd do.

"Get one of them working." Garrus pointed at the vehicles. "I'll cover you."

* * *

><p>The geth writhed and toppled as Liara fired her SMG into it, there was more nostalgia than she had expected, she'd fought geth before.<p>

They were going at full pelt, barely stopping to reload or recharge shields. The sooner the Reaper signal was down, the sooner the geth would stop or be weakened. The longer they lingered, the more at risk they were of being overrun.

"Tali," Shepard called, "left side."

Tali deployed an attack drone on the balcony where two snipers had taken up position. The drone hovered around and began to electrocute the two geth.

"Destroyer, incoming!" Tali shouted.

Shepard opened fire, hitting the geth's fuel tanks and making them explode. "Move up!"

They had a momentary reprieve and they had to move fast. They'd nearly had a close shave with an Armature, and then there were the heavier geth like the Primes.

They entered the elevator, Shepard sent it up.

"Shepard, it's Garrus." The radio crackled. "We've found a vehicle."

"Good work." Shepard answered. "Stay down until we've stopped the signal."

"What will you do when that happens?" Liara asked suddenly. "The geth will be weakened, perhaps disabled, what will you do with them?"

Shepard shrugged.

"I imagine that some of the quarians will want to destroy them." Tali guessed. "You can't save the indoctrinated."

Liara inhaled sharply, just a small sound, but Shepard heard her. Tali hadn't meant to offend, but she had accidentally reminded Liara about her mother's death.

"They're machines though." Tali continued. "Maybe Legion could reprogram them, if that's even a good idea."

The elevator stopped, Shepard stepped out first.

Another alarm blared.

"Shepard Commander?" Legion asked over the radio. "Did you ask the Creator fleet to begin an assault?"

* * *

><p>High above Rannoch, the quarian fleet edged forwards, towards the geth ships. Gerrel and Xen had grown tired of waiting, they were going to engage the geth fleet, despite Koris' attempts to stop them.<p>

The geth fleet had been weakened, but they still had a substantial fleet and the dreadnaught.

Worst of all, Gerrel was prepared to put the liveships at risk.

The ships began to open fire, quarian and geth fighters chased each other, little flies around hawks.

The quarian ships were numerous, the geth however, had better firepower. The quarian ships were being shredded.

* * *

><p>"I told them to hold position!" Shepard hissed. "We have to hurry!" He ran ahead with his squad behind him. This was bad, really bad.<p>

The quarian fleet was going to be wiped out, that was why Shepard had told them to wait.

The geth were launching reinforcements from the stronghold, fighter squadrons and bombers were taking flight.

As Shepard rounded the next corner, he saw a heavy blast shield closing over something.

He saw the telltale blue metal and red glow. It had to be the Reaper signal emitter.

"The Normandy can't blast through that shield." Liara stated.

"We'll just have to override it." Shepard replied.

Shepard reached the next elevator, the one that would lead to a platform above the blast shield. He hit the panel and waited, rifle pointed at the way they had come.

Nothing happened. Shepard hit the panel again.

"I think we're stuck." He muttered.

"The geth must have stopped it." Tali removed the access panel and began to fiddle with the wiring. "Cover me, I'll get it moving again."

Liara took hold of a heavy crate and began to move it towards Tali as cover, Shepard helped her, it would give Tali some protection from incoming fire.

The two of them took cover, just as the geth began to appear.

"Just like old times, Liara." Shepard half smiled.

"All we need now is a hoard of krogan," Liara agreed, "and many strange creatures."

They opened fire, taking out the first group of geth. Shock troopers appeared and deployed hexagonal shields as cover. The shields could be destroyed by gunfire, they were still irritating though.

Shepard rammed another clip home and continued to fire. He brought down two more geth. Liara caught a few in her singularity and they both shot the hapless geth down.

It really was like old times. It had even been this hectic.

"Prime!" Liara warned.

"No problem." Shepard answered, he leant round cover and overloaded its shields. Liara took the opportunity to put it in stasis. Shepard primed a grenade. As soon as the Prime could move, a sticky bomb landed on its head. The Prime howled before its head was blown apart.

"Got it!" Tali shouted, she covered Liara as she ran for the elevator. Shepard ran in next, followed by Tali.

Pulse fire peppered the doors, they were safe however. For now.

"Definitely like old times." Liara reloaded her SMG.

The elevator stopped at the platform, which was disturbingly empty. They moved cautiously, until they were on a narrow walkway above the blast shield.

Tali found some controls and began to hack them. Shepard checked the coordinates.

The blast shield began to screech open.

Shepard timed it carefully. "Normandy, I need an air strike on these coordinates." He instructed. Most of the anti-air guns were on the other side of the base, and the Normandy could evade them with its stealth drives, Legion said that the turrets were automated.

"Copy that, Commander." Joker answered. "Might want to cover your ears."

The Normandy swooped in, towards the glowing red light, and fired its missiles.

The place shook, they stumbled.

A mechanical growl thundered from the pit as a limb of metal emerged and headed for them.

It sliced through the walkway, the squad plummeted to the ground.

Shepard gritted his teeth, ignoring the bruise, and stood up. The others were fine.

The fall was the least of their problems though. Another metal limb came up, Shepard saw a red glow below.

"It's not a Reaper signal," he realised, helping Tali back onto her feet, "it's an actual Reaper!"

Liara called out and pointed at something heading their way, a geth hovercraft. Legion and Garrus had done their bit.

They sprinted for the craft as the Reaper crawled out of the pit, growling and trying to crush them.

Shepard clambered up to the turret and took the controls. Legion waited for the others to board before speeding off.

The Reaper followed them, it was a Destroyer, that didn't make things any easier.

"Shepard to Normandy," Shepard called, "we need another strike, we've got a Reaper on our six!"

"A Reaper!" Joker exclaimed. "Why don't you ask us to drop a stone on its head?"

"Now, Joker!" Shepard shouted over the turret fire, the pulse fire was doing little to slow the Reaper down. Shepard aimed for the legs, trying to see if he could blow one off.

The Reaper prepared to fire its cannon.

Shepard fired at the red spot, the Reaper faltered and closed the panels, so it did have a weak spot.

The Reaper didn't stop though, it kept on chasing them.

The Normandy swooped in, firing missiles at the Reaper. The missiles exploded harmlessly against its shields. The machine trained its laser on the Normandy.

Shepard opened fire, making it stop again. "Joker, use the Thanix!" He ordered.

"That's crazy!" Joker protested.

"The best firing solution has been plotted." EDI added. "However, the path of the munitions will hit your vehicle." She was right. They were in a narrow channel, maybe a dried up river bed with steep walls, there was no way for them to dodge.

"We don't have a choice," Shepard argued, "that Reaper needs to be taken out _now_!" He switched channels. "Legion, speed up!"

"Overriding safeties." Legion whirred. "Overheat likely, dispatch the Old Machine quickly."

Shepard continued to fire at the Reaper as they picked up speed, the Normandy came in again.

Shepard heard Joker exhale over the radio. "Hold on to your heads." He murmured.

The lance of blue fire shot out and speared through the Reaper, the machine howled and stumbled, the beam carried on.

It hit the hovercraft, a glancing hit, the vehicle's engines failed and it crashed into the ground. It slid to a halt, the undercarriage was gone and so was most of the paintwork.

Shepard jumped down from the turret and opened the hatch. His allies were alive, how they managed to pull off, let alone agree to, these stunts was beyond him. At least they were alive.

"Commander?" Joker called. "Please tell me I didn't ruin your day."

"You didn't, Joker." Shepard replied. "All we lost was our ride."

* * *

><p>They walked back to the spot where the Reaper had fallen. It didn't look quite as impressive anymore, crumpled in a heap with two broken legs and a gaping hole where the Thanix had hit it.<p>

The red glow appeared again, an eye glaring at Shepard.

"Shepard." It boomed. "Harbinger spoke of you."

"Then you know who I am." Shepard was undaunted.

"Your fight is pointless." The Reaper stated. "We will end your chaos."

"What do you want?" Shepard demanded. "Why destroy us?"

"You are chaos, we are order. We are perfection, you are vermin." The Reaper thundered. "It is our right to destroy you as we see fit."

"No, it isn't." Shepard disagreed. "As long as you believe that, as long as you exist to destroy us, we will stand to fight you." He pulled out his Carnifex. "We may die, we may fail, but we will _never _give up, we will fight you to the death." He pulled the trigger. The Reaper's eye disintegrated and dimmed.

"You always had a way with words." Garrus remarked. "And a way with a gun."

The radio crackled. "Commander," it was Gerrel, "the geth fleet has ceased fire, we can wipe them out now."

Legion heard this. "We cannot allow that." The geth lifted its hands, compiling codes. "Shepard Commander, there is another option. We go to them, make them individuals, make them free." Legion explained.

"But they'll wipe us out!" Tali gasped, she pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Legion. "I can't let you do this!"

Legion looked at her, almost sadly. "Do you remember the question that started this, Tali?"

Tali wavered. "Yes."

"Can you answer the question?"

Tali lowered her pistol. Legion began his upload.

"This is Admiral Tali'Zorah, break off your attack." Tali ordered.

"Belay that!" Gerrel protested. "We can end this fight once and for all!"

"The geth are coming back online." Tali warned. "They will destroy you!"

"I want no part in this genocide." Koris agreed.

"Ignore that spineless coward." Xen argued. "Destroy them!"

"40%" Legion reported.

"It's no use!" Tali yelled, she turned to Legion. "I beg you, please don't do this."

"We see no alternative." Legion stated. "We are only trying to save our race."

Shepard was conflicted, who should he support?

"We can't let this fight continue, Shepard." Liara told him. "This is just _wrong_!"

"We can't stop this forever," Garrus disagreed, "we need the quarians, or the geth, but they're going to kill each other unless we act."

Shepard thought furiously, there had to be a solution, there _had _to be!

He activated his radio. "Admirals, stop this!" He ordered. "There's no reason for this."

"We're taking back our world!" Gerrel shouted. "With or without your help."

"The geth _don't want _to fight you." Shepard objected. "If you can believe that for just a moment, then this could all end. Can you really blame them? You made them, then turned on them when they began to think for themselves. They defended themselves and you're wiping them out for it. Does that make you any better than the Reapers?" Shepard gave them a moment to ponder that. "Please, do the right thing." He requested. _"Keelah se'lai." _

There was silence for a moment, Shepard thought that he had lost both sides.

"All ships…" Gerrel faltered. "Break off, stop the attack."

Tali sighed shakily. "Thank you, Shepard." She breathed.

Legion had just about finished. "Error, code insufficient." He turned to Shepard. "Shepard Commander, we must go to them. It is the only way."

Without another word, he fell to his knees, lights flashing. Legion looked up at the sun, admiring it. _"Keelah se'lai." _He murmured before pitching forwards.

Tali was actually upset, she knelt over Legion and tried to see if she could reactivate the geth, but with no success.

Shepard noticed the geth gathering behind them, they just stood there, weapons drawn.

The nearest Prime surveyed them, looked at its gun, then put the weapon away.

The other geth followed suit, many of them were wandering around, as if surveying a new land with new eyes.

A creaking sound made Shepard turn.

"Does this unit…" A mechanical voice began. "Do I have… a soul?"

Legion looked at his hands, unsure of himself.

Tali nodded. "Yes, you do." She answered.

"I am… an individual." Legion realised. "I am Legion, that is my name, yet I am not many." He noticed the geth, they were waiting for him. Shepard realised that Legion had uploaded most of his programs to them, to give them free will. They saw Legion as their leader, their saviour.

"I must speak to my fellow geth." Legion had thought of the same thing. "Shepard, thank you, we all have we want now."

As Legion walked off to speak to the geth, Tali sighed and sat down, looking out at the sea.

"Still thinking about that house?" Shepard sat next to her.

"Beachfront property." She mused.

"Claim it soon." Shepard joked. "It's a buyer's market."

"I'm not staying."

"I wasn't going to ask."

"I owe you, Shepard." Tali explained. "Even if I didn't, as a friend, I would still follow you."

Shepard couldn't turn down her offer, in fact he was more than willing to let her be in his squad again. "Alright." Shepard accepted. "But you should still claim that house."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yes, I didn't have the heart to kill Legion either. Next mission might be Thessia, or a new one that I have in mind.<strong>_


	15. Screams of the damned

_**Please submit reviews, hits are in the 10,000s, but I'd still like some comments, hits don't say much about style or content.**_

_**And my apologies for entering a side quest here, but this one gave me the chills, it also gives me the chance to test out more custom husks, and I'm going to extend this mission for extra chills. Keep the reviews coming…**_

_**(WARNING: Extreme gore ahead. You've been warned.)**_

* * *

><p>It was an unexpected but welcome bonus to have both the quarians and the geth on their side against the Reapers. They even had the geth dreadnaught, that had to make the Reapers think twice at least.<p>

But there was another matter, something that Liara had picked up.

Asari High Command had sent a commando team to a small colony, none of the commandos had reported in. In desperation, the asari had called the Normandy.

They took the shuttle in, heading for a remote building in the mountains.

"Looks peaceful." Garrus commented.

"I found out why High Command is desperate for us to deal with this." Liara announced. "This is an Ardat-Yakshi monastery."

"Ardat-Yakshi?" Shepard repeated. "Like Morinth?"

"Morinth chose to be a killer." Liara explained. "These Ardat-Yakshi have chosen to live in peace and seclusion, but their urge to feed can be powerful. The commandos would have brought high explosives to destroy the monastery, to stop the Ardat-Yakshi escaping."

"Bit extreme." Garrus muttered. "But understandable."

The shuttle touched down and dropped the squad off before leaving.

Garrus noticed a sky-car parked nearby. "My visor's IR says that the drive is still warm." He told them. "Recent visitor?"

No-one had an answer. The commandos had disabled the elevator, they had to use the maintenance gantries to descend into the monastery.

"That sound…" Liara whispered.

Shepard paused, listening. Something was screaming, only it didn't sound like a person. It was an unearthly wail, painful and sharp. It made his blood run cold.

"There's more than one of them." Liara gulped.

They emerged into a dark place, dormitories. They flicked their flashlights on.

Chairs and tables had been tipped over, a couple of computers had been smashed on the floor.

"Goddess!" Liara breathed.

Shepard glanced at what her flashlight had illuminated. It looked like someone had spilled a can of purple paint, only it wasn't paint.

It was blood, asari blood.

"I don't think the Ardat-Yakshi did this." Garrus murmured.

They spread out, keeping each other in sight as they checked the rooms. The wailing was still slicing through the dark air, making them jump.

Shepard shone his flashlight into one of the rooms, everything had been smashed.

Something clanged behind him.

He spun round. "I heard something!" He called.

"Uh… That was me." Garrus shook his head. "Sorry."

"Shepard." Liara called him over, she was kneeling next to a dark object on the floor.

The flashlight caught it, Shepard swallowed.

The commando had been torn in half, what was left of her was lying in a pool of dried blood. Whatever had killed her had been excruciatingly brutal, entrails were exposed like some ancient and bloody sacrifice.

"I guess that the commando team didn't make it." Garrus murmured, picking up a datapad next to the asari. "Looks like they placed a bomb in the great hall." He looked around. "I think we all know what did this." He pointed at the remains of a Devil in the far corner.

"Reapers." Shepard muttered. "That explains it."

They carried on, following the macabre trail into what appeared to be a dining area, now wrecked like most of the monastery.

"It's too quiet." Garrus whispered.

The screaming started again.

"I wish I hadn't said that." Garrus sighed.

The blood trail was still thick on the floor. Lots of bodies, alive or dead, had been dragged across the floor.

"Shepard, look." Garrus pointed. "Or don't, it's gross."

The tables had been left upright in here, for a gruesome reason.

Blood and discarded limbs covered them, along with strange implements and metal appendages.

"They were experimenting on them." Liara's voice was trembling.

"This reminds of me of Saleon." Garrus muttered. "But even he wasn't this brutal."

Still no signs of life, Reaper or otherwise. They continued to follow the blood trail.

The door ahead slid open, five Devils were waiting for them.

The squad opened fire, taking out the charging husks before they came too close. Now the Reapers were showing their hand in this.

As they entered the next room, they heard something clack, like a cannon round being loaded.

"Get down!" Garrus shouted. They ducked into cover as something boomed, rubble flew over their heads.

Shepard managed to get a look at their adversary. It was hunched and standing on four limbs with a cannon on its right shoulder and a machine gun on the other.

It had been an elcor, now it was another husk. The elcor husk gurgled and opened fire with the machine gun.

It had a blind side though, its weapons couldn't swivel and the elcor was ponderous.

Liara moved to the left and opened fire as the elcor began to turn, it was well armoured, it was going to take a lot more firepower to bring it down.

Shepard shouted for covering fire and moved to the right, machine gun bullets whizzed over his head. He managed to get behind the elcor, there was vent or something linked to a power core, Shepard fired at it.

The elcor rumbled and stamped, trying to turn round.

Shepard took cover, now the elcor husk had its back turned to Garrus and Liara, who fired at the same spot.

The elcor roared, then the power core malfunction and exploded, ripping the husk in half.

"Elcor husks?" Garrus wondered aloud. "Great, what next?"

"It wasn't screaming." Shepard pointed out. "Something else is waiting for us." He looked down at the large corpse. "What do you want to call this one?"

"Tank, I guess." Garrus shrugged. "I think that's what the Reapers have made them into."

* * *

><p>They moved on, the door led them onto a walkway. They could see a courtyard below, it was empty apart from the bodies of two asari commandos and a few Cannibals.<p>

"Did this place have any security?" Garrus asked.

"Only a few guards." Liara answered. "This was a monastery, not a prison."

"Sounds like a fancy prison." Garrus muttered.

The walkway creaked under their feet, sounding loud in the cold, silent night air.

"I can still hear that screaming." Garrus murmured. "Is it a Reaper toy, a survivor, or something else?"

"We'll know soon enough." Shepard left it at that, he didn't really want to know what could scream like that.

There was still no movement below, the Reapers were either too busy or uncaring, they didn't seem to care about the three intruders, or four.

There was another unearthly wail, closer this time.

"I think we should get ready for another fight." Garrus muttered.

They re-entered the monastery, there'd been a fight in this room, one with guns and biotics.

It was obvious why the Reapers were experimenting on asari, a race whose people were powerful biotics, the Reapers wanted that kind of power.

The scream was ear splittingly close now, Liara winced and gritted her teeth.

"Shepard, something's coming!" Garrus pointed at a makeshift barricade.

The barricade exploded outwards, something stood behind the ruins, screaming.

It was very tall, but thin, with bloated grey flesh and skeletal cybernetics. It had long claws like curved blades and spikes running from its scalp.

Of all the monstrous husks they had encountered, Shepard found this one the most terrifying, because this had been an asari.

That made him think of something, something that made his blood go cold.

If they captured Liara…

The creature screamed and unleashed a biotic missile, slamming Garrus into the far wall.

Shepard opened fire on the creature, Liara hurled a biotic attack at it, making the creature stagger.

Garrus jumped up, bruised more than injured, opening fire.

The creature was tough despite its skeletal appearance, protected by barriers.

Liara flung another warp at the creature, bringing its barriers down, Shepard and Garrus fired a volley into it.

The creatures screamed again, falling to its knees. It continued to scream as it disintegrated, its biotics were ripping it into dust.

"That used to be a person." Liara was shaking. "An asari."

"They're just getting worse with every species." Garrus murmured. "Whatever they're doing here needs to stop."

They moved on, keeping an eye on the shadows and an ear out for screams.

Strangely, they were coming across more corpses, Reaper corpses. Maybe some commandos had made it.

They walked out onto a balcony, below them was a scene of carnage, dead Reaper troops were on the floor.

A lone Cannibal snuck in, deciding which corpse to devour.

It roared, then flew across the room and was smashed against the wall.

A lone figure walked across, looking up at them. "Very good, I almost didn't hear you enter." She announced.

"Samara?" Shepard lowered his rifle. He'd recruited Samara, an asari Justicar, to take down the Collectors. Morinth had been one of her daughters. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to find my daughters, Shepard." She answered. That made sense, she had said that all three of her daughters were Ardat-Yakshi.

"We haven't found any survivors yet." Shepard told her. "We'll keep an eye out."

"The great hall, that is the most defensible position." Samara replied. "We should meet there."

Shepard nodded, sending Garrus to hack the nearest door. So far they had come across two new husks, but why were the Reapers bothering with an Ardat-Yakshi monastery when they could use ordinary asari to make the "Banshees".

They advanced into the courtyard, only something was missing.

It took Shepard a few moments to work it out, the corpses were gone.

So was all the blood.

There was more unearthly wailing, another banshee he presumed.

"Damn it!" Liara hissed. "I can't stand that noise!"

"Stay calm." Shepard told her gently. "We'll get through this."

"If they take me…"

"They won't." Shepard vowed.

He didn't know if he had the stomach to keep that vow if the Reapers tried to take her, nor was he willing to find out.

The screaming was getting worse, but it stopped abruptly when they opened the doors to the main part of the monastery.

There was a faint hissing sound, like a ruptured gas pipe, only there were no fumes or snakes around.

It also felt like something was watching them, right behind them, hissing malevolently.

Something clunked on their right, they aimed their weapons at the disturbance.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" A blood stained hand appeared above the table, a figure rose up. The commando was shaking and covered in asari blood and oil from husks, it looked like she'd been hiding and picking off husks from the corner, all she had was a battered pistol and an omni-blade.

"At last," Garrus lowered his weapon, "a survivor."

"What happened here?" Shepard asked the shaky commando.

"I… I don't know." She stammered. "We came here and it seemed to be deserted, then… Goddess! There were so many of them, those… monsters…"

"Those asari husks?" Shepard asked. "The howling ones?"

"No, worse." The commando trembled. "They took the Ardat-Yakshi and made…" She stopped suddenly, lifting up her pistol.

Shepard realised that the hissing sound had become more intense, like it was inside his skull.

"Oh Goddess, no!" The asari screamed and bolted for the doors.

She didn't make it.

Something flashed in front of her, something that had been cloaked throughout their conversation. It looked like one of the Banshees, only with red lights, tubes running from its hands and head.

It grabbed the commando and hissed before opening its mouth impossibly wide, sinking its teeth into her head.

"Spirits!" Garrus jumped back, aiming his rifle, but the creature was using the asari as a shield.

The tubes were wriggling, filling with purple as the creature drank the asari's blood.

The synthetic muscles on its arms and legs became thicker, its lights grew brighter.

The thing lowered the dead asari, now pale through loss of blood, and screeched.

So this was what the Reapers had done with the Ardat-Yakshi, made them into a folkloric monster, a Vampire.

Liara opened fire, unloading her SMG's thermal clip into the creature. It was much tougher than the Banshees though, having assimilated blood.

It screeched again and vanished from view.

"It's cloaked!" Garrus yelled.

"Where is it?" Shepard wondered aloud.

"I can't see it!" Liara shouted.

They stood back-to-back, scanning the room, hoping to find the Vampire before it snacked on them.

The hissing sound returned, slithering through their skulls.

Shepard felt the sweat break out on his forehead, this war was getting worse with every moment.

He glanced up.

So it could hover, that was a nasty shock, its red eyes were almost in his face.

Shepard jumped back, alerting his squad to the looming threat over their heads.

As one, they opened fired, bullets tore into the Vampire's barriers, the combined firepower took them down.

The creature was still a nightmare to kill though, it had tough skin and was faster than it looked, swiping at them with its scimitar like claws.

It had backed Shepard into a corner, shrugging off the gunfire.

The Valkyrie clicked, dead man's click, it was out of ammunition.

"Shepard!" Liara shouted. "Move!"

Shepard saw what was happening and leapt, narrowly missing the Vampire's claws.

The husk turned just as the table slammed into its head, smashing it against the wall and crushing it into a bloody pulp trailing wires and cybernetics.

Not taking any chances, Garrus stood over it and fired a few rounds into its back.

The creature remained still, it was dead.

"So _that's _why they came here." Garrus muttered.

There was nothing else to say, they moved on, keeping an eye on the shadows and flinching whenever they heard a noise.

The screaming returned, curdling blood and making bones shiver.

They were almost there, press one button and they could end this nightmare, hopefully.

* * *

><p>They entered the great hall, a room with a view over the frozen countryside below.<p>

Samara must have gotten ahead of them somehow, there was another asari with her, not one of the commandos.

Shepard and his team approached, Garrus kept an eye on their six.

"What's wrong with her, Mother?" The second asari asked Samara, so she was one of Samara's daughters. "Why won't she wake up?"

"Rila is beyond out help, Falere." Samara told her daughter. "There is nothing we can do."

Falere ignored her and tried to wake her sister, shaking her and calling her name. Rila was slumped against the bomb the commandos had set up in the hall.

Garrus began to work on the controls, seeing if he could prepare the explosives.

Rila moved.

Falere tried to help her sister back onto her feet, but Rila's eyes turned black and she grabbed Falere by the throat.

Shepard knew that an asari's eyes turned black when they melded, a normally pleasant event, but when an Ardat-Yakshi did the same death followed.

Samara wrenched Falere away from Rila, who slumped against the bomb again.

"Why did she do that?" Falere gasped, massaging her throat.

"Because the Reapers have begun to turn her into one of their creatures." Samara explained, sounding calm, but Shepard could tell that she was suppressing her dismay. "I'm sorry, Falere." She turned to Shepard. "We must level this place, Commander."

"No luck." Garrus shook his head. "We need the detonator."

"So we have to go back the way we came?" Liara sounded exasperated, Shepard couldn't blame her. "Damn it!"

The screaming became louder, Rila stirred a murmured something.

"More of those asari husks are coming." Garrus pulled out his rifle.

Rila murmured again and reached out as if she was blind. Instinctively, Falere clasped Rila's outstretched hand.

Rila opened her eyes again, only this time they were clear. She stood up, shaking but clearly not hostile. "Falere, go!" She told her sister. "Hundreds of them are coming."

"We can't just leave you here." Falere exclaimed.

Rila held out her hand, a small cylinder nestled in her palm. "You have to."

Samara nodded, understanding. It was too late to save Rila, but she would take the Reapers with her, she would set off the bomb.

Samara grabbed Falere's arm and hauled her back to the elevator. Falere struggled and called out to her sister.

"I love you." Was Rila's last response.

Shepard and his squad entered the lift, Samara hit the controls and the lift descended.

As they left, they heard the screaming become more intense.

* * *

><p>Rila grasped the detonator desperately, knuckles paling as she gripped it tightly.<p>

The screaming was all around her now, inside her head. Whispering so loudly to her.

"_Come to us, be one with us." _They hissed. _"Submit and become part of us."_

The Banshees stalked towards her, a Vampire led them forwards, hissing and spitting the blood of its victims.

The Vampire lashed out, impaling Rila with its claws and lifting her up.

It grasped her head in its other hand, hissing, its breath smelt of death and blood.

Rila pressed down on the detonator. "We're not your slaves!"

* * *

><p>The explosion rocked the monastery, a gout of fire thundered out of the great hall, gutting it and wiping out the remaining husks left inside.<p>

Shepard watched the flames rise from the snow covered mountainside they had run to. The monastery was gone, so was Rila.

"We left her to die!" Falere sobbed.

"Few could resist the Reaper's hold." Samara murmured. "Rila was stronger than I thought. You were all stronger than I thought." She paused, hesitating. "Falere, the Code decrees that an Ardat-Yakshi cannot live outside of a monastery that no longer exsists." She pulled out her handgun.

"What?" Falere breathed.

"Samara…" Garrus began.

"I'm sorry, there is only one way to save Falere." Samara raised the pistol to her own head.

Shepard grabbed her arms, pulling the gun out of her hands.

"Let me go!" Samara hissed.

"What are you doing?" Shepard demanded.

"Fulfilling the code." Samara stated.

"By throwing your life away?"

"I won't kill my last daughter!" Samara protested.

"You won't have to." Falere interjected suddenly. "I'll turn myself into another monastery, or stay here."

Samara considered, still worried about her last daughter.

"I could find a way to help her enter another monastery." Liara added. "She won't be harmed, you have my word."

Samara nodded, Shepard let her go. "Then, the Code permits you to live." Samara said.

It had been a long and harrowing night, they had nearly lost a friend, but once again they had managed.

How?

Perhaps it was a question that couldn't be answered, it just happened.

In a galaxy on fire, hope still remained, hope still shone for them. For all of them.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Just as a note, I think I've found some good music for this: "Galactic Eclipse" by Epic Score (Tarek Mansur), it's a shame that I can't make my own trailer.<strong>_

_**Apologies for the title change, but Galaxy on fire is another game, I thought that Inferno sounded better anyway. If anyone has a better name, then let me know, otherwise this is Mass Effect: Inferno. **_

_**My planning is finished, there are 14 or 15 chapters to go, and from here, a lot **_**will **_**change. So stay tuned, I will be making some epic battles and tearing torments. **_

_**Stay tuned, and thank you all for reading Mass Effect: Inferno.**_


	16. From Ashes

_**Bioware has announced a sort of closure DLC, but Inferno is still underway, I haven't come this far to quit now. **_

_**I'm committed to making an end once and for all. If you like "Inferno", then keep an eye on "And we shall overcome" by MB18932, we both have brilliant ideas for the stories we're making.**_

* * *

><p>The Normandy was heading back to the Citadel for an update and supplies.<p>

After an hour spent chasing leads, Shepard found himself in the Presidium commons again.

Shepard found Liara leaning against a railing, staring out at the view.

"You get around." He smiled.

"This place reminds me of where I grew up." Liara told him. "A place called Armali. My Mother and I lived beside a park."

"What did you do there?" Shepard didn't know a great deal about Liara's past.

"The usual; exploring, reading," she blushed, "digging for ancient ruins."

"Seriously?" Shepard laughed, it didn't take much imagination to picture a much smaller and younger Liara digging for ruins.

"I was _very _young." Liara protested.

"That's kind of cute." Shepard chuckled, Liara sighed, still blushing.

"The lecture I got from my mother." She carried on. "She did buy me my first history book the next day though." She paused. "I miss her, Shepard."

"What was she like?" Shepard asked carefully, it was a sensitive subject for Liara.

"She was confident, she liked to wear yellow." Liara recalled. "I thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the world." Shepard decided not to voice his opinion on that, he thought of Liara as beautiful.

"What about you then?" Liara asked.

Shepard stopped smiling, his childhood had been a lot less idyllic. He owed her something though.

"I didn't know my parents." He answered. "I ended up on the streets, as a messenger for a gang at first." He paused. "Things got worse after that, so I left when I could join the military."

"I'm sorry." Liara apologised.

"It's alright." Shepard assured her. "Tell you what, Garrus has got something in mind, maybe we should see what he's doing."

* * *

><p>Garrus was waiting by a skycar with his arms folded. "Took your time."<p>

"Sorry, got caught up." Shepard apologised.

"Well, you're here now." Garrus shrugged. "We need some way to relax, something that doesn't involve Reapers."

"They haven't conquered the bar yet."

"I've already scoped it out." Garrus told them. "But if this is our last day alive, then I want to remember it." He opened the skycar's doors and waited for them to get in before taking the controls.

They flew above the traffic, through the Presidium.

"So, where are we going?" Shepard asked.

"Ever had something you've always wanted to do before you die? I kept looking up there and thinking: _I want to go up there_." Garrus pointed at one of the bridges, at the very top of the Presidium. "But there were at least one hundred and thirty seven regulations saying that I couldn't." He explained. "But, to hell with the rules."

He landed the speeder on the bridge. "Enjoy the view," he told them, "I've got to get something out."

As Shepard and Liara surveyed their surroundings, Garrus dragged out a couple of crates and set up some folding chairs. Then he joined them to savour the view.

"It's nice up here." Liara smiled. "What did you have in mind?"

"How about diving," Shepard gestured at the lake. "Pool bombing anyone?"

Garrus shook his head. "You obviously haven't seen turians swim," he stated, "it's a lot of flailing around and splashing interrupted by occasional bouts of drowning."

"I'd just have to save you again." Shepard chuckled.

"Makes for all I times I've saved you, Feros, Noveria, Ilos." Garrus recalled. "It's been a hell of a ride."

"It's times like these when you know who your friends really are." Shepard agreed. "They're not the ones looking for a quick escape, they're the ones who stay by your side through the worst of it."

"You're not going to propose marriage now, are you?" Garrus joked. "I think we both know who you'd go down on one knee for." He gestured at Liara, who blushed.

Garrus pulled something out of a crate. "Anyway, this is a good place to settle a dispute." He explained. "Time to see who's the better shot." He handed Shepard a sniper rifle. "I'm not saying that you can't handle a gun, I'm just saying that some of us know how to make one dance.

"Lots of people I know are impressed." Shepard raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, but I've seen you dance, Shepard. No comment." Garrus lifted an empty bottle. "Don't worry, the rifle's loaded with practice rounds, for when you miss."

"Alright then, you're going down, Vakarian." Shepard smirked, taking aim. "Do it."

Garrus hurled the bottle, Shepard hit it as it fell.

"That was an easy one," Garrus told him, "just to let you build up your confidence." He smirked. "Long range; I wrote the book." He picked up another rifle. "Give me a tough one." He requested.

Shepard threw the bottle into the air, Garrus blew it to pieces. "I said a _tough _one." He glanced at Liara. "Would you like a go?"

"I'm not a brilliant shot." Liara pointed out. "Sniping isn't my specialty."

"You never know till you try." Shepard shrugged. "I started sniping during the Skyllian Blitz."

Liara relented. "Fine, I'll have a go." Garrus handed her the rifle.

She took aim as Garrus prepared to throw a bottle. She nodded and he threw it.

Liara fired, not expecting the recoil, and lowered the rifle expecting embarrassment.

"Nice shot." Shepard told her. Liara noticed the fragments of glass falling into the lake.

"Your turn again, Shepard." Garrus picked up another bottle.

Shepard took aim. "Ready."

Garrus hurled the bottle. Shepard fired.

And missed. The bottle fell into the lake.

Garrus spread his arms, grinning. "I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is my favourite spot on the Citadel!" He whooped.

"It's windy up here." Shepard protested.

"I'm going to set up a monument here." Garrus continued. "Bronze this gun so that the whole galaxy knows."

"Yeah, that Garrus is king of the bottle shooters." Shepard joked. "That's good, because you never know when the bottles might revolt."

Garrus laughed. "As long as C-Sec doesn't arrest us," he grinned, "this is much better than shooting Reapers."

* * *

><p>"Commander, there's an urgent message at your terminal." Traynor reported.<p>

Shepard noticed the flashing light on his console, he'd wanted some sleep, but the message was apparently urgent.

He selected the new message, it was surprising.

Cerberus had attacked Eden Prime, and they had found a Prothean artefact. Anything Prothean could help them to decipher the code they had acquired on Mars.

He couldn't just sit on this, he had to go. Back to where it had all begun.

"Joker, set a course for Eden Prime." He ordered.

"You got it, Commander."

* * *

><p>The Normandy arrived in the Utopia system and dropped the shuttle. Liara had insisted on going to Eden Prime, that didn't surprise Shepard. Ashley, Garrus and Tali were coming too, they needed the support, Cerberus had a major presence on the surface.<p>

"Eden Prime." Ashley murmured. "Where it all started, with Saren and the geth."

"I remember trying to find evidence to prove it." Garrus added.

"I nearly got shot because I was carrying it around." Tali shrugged.

"Whatever Cerberus has found must be important." Liara told them. "They've devoted a lot of troops to securing their find, and more resources to taking the planet."

"We'll stop them." Shepard assured his team. "And find whatever it is that they want."

The shuttle rumbled into the compound, an old colonist settlement. Cerberus would notice, but they still had an edge. Cerberus knew that a shuttle had arrived, but they didn't know where.

The colony had changed, it had been three years since the rogue Spectre, Saren, had come here with the geth heretics.

"I remember fighting here with the 212th." Ashley muttered. "That ambush…"

"Stay focused." Garrus reminded her. "We're here for a Prothean artefact."

They spread out, keeping an eye out for Cerberus troopers.

It didn't take them long to find the dig site, it was hard to miss.

"Goddess!" Liara breathed. "This is amazing."

A Prothean building had been uncovered, obelisks were sticking out of the ground like ceramic teeth. The building was some sort of facility, a secret one given that it had been buried.

Shepard could see an access tunnel big enough for a tank. That gave him an idea.

"Ashley, Liara, guard this position." He ordered. "Garrus, Tali follow me."

"You have an idea?" Tali asked.

"Yes." Shepard answered, priming his rifle. "I need you to hack a Hammerhead."

* * *

><p>The three of them had little difficulty finding the depot where two M44 Hammerhead hover tanks were parked, but getting in was going to be tricky. Cerberus had a strong foothold, alerting them could be catastrophic.<p>

Garrus had also noticed security looks on the Prothean structure, they really did need a Hammerhead to get in, or they'd just lock them out and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

"This will be… tricky." Tali muttered.

"Not impossible though." Shepard fixed a silencer onto the end of his sniper rifle. "You and Shepard will sneak in, I'll cover you and take out anyone who gets in your way." Garrus pointed at a sentry tower near the compound. "I'll be up there."

"Right, just don't miss." Tali nodded.

Garrus put on a mock look of dismay. "Have I ever?"

* * *

><p>The Cerberus sniper wasn't much trouble, once his neck had been broken he was very quiet. Garrus considered chucking the body out, but that could give him away.<p>

Garrus put his eye to the scope and found Shepard and Tali. "Got you." He told them, he began to give them instructions, providing them with routes to avoid Cerberus troopers.

"One's coming your way," Garrus reported, "want me to slot him?"

"He's mine." Shepard grabbed the trooped, dragged him behind the desk and stabbed him.

"Clean kill." Garrus murmured. "You're clear, go to the right." Garrus flipped his visor mode onto x-ray, combined with the sniper scope, he could see through the walls. "Stay close to the outside, I can't cover you if you go too far in." He warned them. A well built sniper rifle could shoot through walls, but only to a point.

He kept on giving them directions until they reached the two Hammerheads.

Tali began to hack into the vehicle's mainframe, bypassing its security lock. After hacking geth servers and the latest mainframes, this was child's play for her.

The Hammerhead whirred into life, lifting off the ground.

"Just take it nice and easy." Garrus advised.

Shepard piloted the Hammerhead calmly, acting as if he was a Cerberus pilot who knew what he was doing.

The Hammerhead left the depot without incident, Garrus climbed down from the tower and entered the tank.

"You waiting for a tip?" He joker.

"One hundred credits to hire this taxi." Tali added. "And several garbage attacks."

They picked up Ashley and Liara on the way and moved up to the doors of the structure.

The radio buzzed and a bossy voice demanded an ID. Garrus held up a tag he'd found.

"Uh… Sergeant Baker, number 4456702." Shepard read out. "Carrying extra staff for the research department."

"Enter." The voice told them. "Move at steady speed and stop at the security scanner."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief and moved the Hammerhead further in.

The scanner was out of place in the Prothean ruin, it was also bad news.

"Uh-oh, they'll notice us." Garrus muttered.

"You could always sneak out." Ashley suggested.

"We said research staff, two people don't qualify."

"Who votes for a _direct_ approach." Tali folded her arms. "Now that we're inside, I can probably override a few doors."

After a moment, they agreed.

"Alright. Garrus, prime the missile launcher." Shepard ordered. "Tali, bring up the shields."

Garrus adjusted the system, toggling Cerberus from friendlies to hostiles.

"Hammerhead 1042." A Cerberus trooper hailed them. "Your weapons systems are online, deactivate them."

"Must be a glitch." Shepard lied. "I don't see anything."

"Wait a…" The trooper swore. "You're not Baker, we've got intruders!"

"Firing." Garrus pulled the trigger. A missile spat out of the turret and hit the checkpoint, blasting the scanner and killing the two troopers guarding it.

"That's how it's done." Garrus grinned.

Shepard drove the Hammerhead over the wreckage, aware of the fact that it lacked the durability of a Mako. It had more firepower, but a tough layer of armour and shielding was always reassuring.

"They're deploying mechs to stop us." Tali stated. "LOKI and ORCUS."

"Hah!" Garrus snorted. "I'd like to see them try to stop this thing."

"Don't get cocky." Ashley warned.

Garrus lined up a shot at the mechs. The LOKI were the weak, spindly ones who only carried a Shuriken SMG for defence, the ORCUS were Cerberus mechs, with thicker shoulder and chest plates, they carried an M97 Maul, a weapon based on the Mattock only automatic and higher tech.

Despite all this, they were still no match for a homing missile launcher. Garrus took aim and blasted the mechs with the missile launcher.

Shepard upped the speed and drove the Hammerhead in further, Garrus continued to take out any mechs that got in the way. Cerberus wasn't sending many troopers after them, maybe they were saving them for something.

The structure was like the secret bunker on Ilos, lined with stasis pods that had failed long ago. Except there were broken ones and projectile impacts on the walls.

"Heads up!" Ashley pointed. "Big mechs ahead."

Garrus spotted the YMIR mech waiting for them. "I hate those things." He muttered.

"We'll keep our distance." Shepard told him, the Hammerhead was a bit flimsy, he didn't want to test its hull against the YMIR's machine gun or rocket launcher.

"Why so many tinnies?" Ashley wondered aloud.

"Maybe they haven't got as many troopers as we thought." Liara guessed. "Cerberus is powerful, but they can't prepare and field an army that quickly. We've only run into spec ops."

"Leave the theories for later." Garrus reminded them, firing the launcher.

The missile hit the YMIR's shields, the heavy mech stumbled but didn't go down. In response, it fired its own missile at the Hammerhead.

The space was too tight to manoeuvre. They were going to be hit.

"Brace!" Tali shouted.

The missile hit the right side thrusters and the Hammerhead hit the ground.

"Everyone out!" Shepard ordered. "Use the Hammerhead for cover."

As he stepped out, he heard machine gun bullets hit the grounded tank, next time he'd bring a Mako, it was about time that Normandy had a tank ready for battle.

"We haven't got enough firepower to take that thing out." Ashley hissed.

"The launcher's still pointing at it." Garrus noticed. "Cover me, I'll get it working again."

Shepard lobbed a grenade at the YMIR, drawing its fire as Garrus jumped back into the Hammerhead.

He needed to hurry, the YMIR was getting closer, once it was on top of them, it would just mow them down.

"Firing!" Garrus called. The missile launcher boomed and the warhead sped towards the mech.

It stumbled again, its shields were gone, but its armour was holding.

Garrus fired again. This time, the mech was done for. The missile blew it apart, leaving just the head and legs behind.

"Nice shot," Shepard called.

"I aim to please." Garrus chuckled. "Wait, that was a really bad joke."

* * *

><p>Fortunately, the tunnels didn't go on for much longer. Cerberus had some mechs waiting, but they were the weaker varieties, including FENRIS mechs. Shepard noticed that Cerberus had added their insignia to the mechs and some enhancements.<p>

They turned into the security checkpoint, killing the two troopers inside.

"Ah, security controls." Tali sounded pleased as she examined the console. "Looks like Cerberus is trying to lock us out, one of us should stay here and get the doors open."

"You'd be ideal for that." Shepard agreed. "Ashley, stay here and keep her safe."

"You got it, skipper." Ashley nodded.

Shepard, Garrus and Liara moved out, Tali opened the doors that impeded their progress. This part of the facility was still Prothean, but Cerberus had moved a lot of equipment in. Some of it was insanely expensive, let alone legal or even past the prototype stages. They were desperate to find this artefact.

"Mech patrol ahead," Tali warned them, "only three of them."

Shepard glanced round the door frame and spotted the ORCUS mechs striding towards them.

Garrus quietly threw a mine in their path. The mechs were oblivious until the lead mech trod on the mine, exploding into pieces. Liara and Shepard took down the other two.

"They wouldn't go to this much effort just for a few relics." Garrus muttered.

Liara approached the nearest console and tapped in a few commands. The console was full of logs from a scientist, most of them were uneventful until the end.

Liara froze when she found the last log. "This… this can't be right."

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"They didn't find a Prothean artefact." She explained. "They found a _Prothean_."

"Like the Collectors?" Garrus asked. "Or like the ones on Ilos?"

"Like the ones on Ilos." She looked up at them. "Only this one is _alive_."

It was hard to believe. If this Prothean was alive, then he or she had been in stasis for 50,000 years at the very least.

It was going to be a shock when the waking call came.

Now that they had something _really _important in Cerberus hands, they began to hurry. Cerberus personnel and mechs didn't stop them, nor did security protocols as Tali kept hacking the security network.

They were deep inside the facility now, but security was still a little too weak for a Cerberus controlled facility with the find of a lifetime inside.

"This must be the place, according to the logs they moved the pod and tried to open it." Liara explained, pointing at a large circular lab on the map. "They must be waiting for us."

"We're ready for them." Shepard assured his squad. He and Liara flanked the doors, he nodded at Garrus who opened them.

The stasis pod was behind a kinetic barrier at the end of the room, below an observation module. The place reminded Shepard of a coliseum.

Then, he put two and two together. Cerberus didn't want the Prothean as an advisor or ally, they wanted a weapon. This arena was meant to test its combat skills.

But someone had decided to make it a test for Shepard.

"Mechs!" Garrus pointed at two hatches that had opened. ORCUS mechs were coming out.

They ducked into cover as the bullets began to fly. Shepard opened fire and brought down one of the mechs.

The air thrummed and the remaining ORCUS mechs hung limply in the air as Liara held them in a singularity. Bullets shattered the mechs as they hung helplessly.

Another mech appeared, only it wasn't a YMIR. It was slightly taller with double barrelled cannons on its arms. The Cerberus answer to the YMIR, the OGRE was armed with pulse weapons and was just as well shielded and armoured as a YMIR.

"Concentrate fire!" Shepard barked. The stream of bullets did little to stall the mech however. It unleashed its pulse cannons, slicing into the cover they were using.

They had no choice but to move. They split up, confusing the mech for a second.

Shepard activated his cloak and ran behind the mech, Garrus and Liara drew its fire.

Carefully, he attached a sticky bomb to the mech's back. The mech began to turn and Shepard ran.

The grenade exploded, taking out its shields. It was still well armoured, but a panel at the back was coming loose.

With its back to Garrus and Liara, the damaged back was taking a lot of fire. By the time it had turned its back to Shepard again, the panel was gone, exposing some circuitry.

Shepard ran up behind it again, cutting wires would take too long, he simply threw his last grenade into the mech.

The mech began to turn again, just as the grenade detonated.

Shepard ducked as pieces of metal crashed to the ground. When he looked up, the mech had been blown in half.

"One nil to the Normandy crew!" Garrus whooped.

"Shepard," Tali called, "whatever you did just made them mad, they're sending reinforcements."

"Tali, meet us on the roof." Shepard ordered. "Tell the Normandy to pick us up there, we've got a special delivery for them."

* * *

><p>By the time Cerberus teams had arrived on Eden Prime, the Normandy was long gone. They'd taken Cerberus' prize right from under their noses.<p>

The security team onboard the Normandy was treating the stasis pod as a threat, keeping rifles trained on it at all times.

"I keep trying to tell them that it's just a stasis pod." Liara told Shepard, sounding exasperated. "They moved it into the cargo bay."

"I think it's time we opened it." Shepard suggested.

They took the lift down to the cargo bay, the security team didn't turn to acknowledge them, too wary of the pod.

Shepard still had the Cipher, and therefore an understanding of the Prothean language.

He tapped the commands into the control panel and waited.

The pod slid open, a faint mist slithered out.

Cerberus had been right, there was a _live _Prothean inside. Liara was speechless, either with excitement or awe.

The Prothean twitched, then opened its eyes. Like the Collectors, he had four eyes, but wasn't an insect unlike them.

The Prothean sat up, rifles followed his ever move.

"Put the guns down!" Liara hissed, the marines ignored her.

"Do as she says." Shepard ordered.

Something grabbed his arm.

Then he was seeing the world with different eyes.

Or was it _his_ world?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>I hope that this satisfies the people wanting me to put Javik in. Apologies for more Cerberus mechs rather than troopers, but I recently learned about the ORCUS and OGRE mechs and decided to put them in, that and I liked the old mechs. I've also noticed that some people don't like them having an army, that makes sense, so why not use mechs? As for the M97 Maul, I've always wondered why a high-tech organisation like Cerberus would use the old M96 Mattock. Since they love the Mattock so much, they might as well upgrade it. <strong>_


	17. Return to Omega

_**About the omni-blades, I've witnessed Shepard's allies hit enemies once or twice and lose in melee combat. But why can't they have omni-blades or unique melee attacks like Shepard or the soldiers in multiplayer? Also, I can understand Kai Leng using a sword, it suits him, but I think that the Phantoms should use omni-blades. Like the Maul, I think that Cerberus should up their tech a bit. **_

_**Might be expensive for Bioware and EA to put in all this changes, enemies and guns. But the little things might make it better, at least I don't need to worry about that in a story.**_

* * *

><p><em>50,000 years ago<em>

They didn't call it Eden Prime back then, but during the vision they never gave its name.

It was a vision, like the ones the Prothean beacons had given him. Only it was about the fall of the Protheans on Eden Prime.

They were fighting outside, using some sort of beam weapons. But even with such technology, they were still losing to the Reapers.

Collectors and unidentifiable husk creatures were breaking through Prothean lines.

But they had a plan, a bold one, but a plan nonetheless.

A bunker filled with stasis pods, each one would contain a warrior. Once the Reapers retreated back into Dark Space, the Prothean Empire would rise a million strong again.

As the vision continued, Shepard saw two Protheans inside the facility, one was the Prothean they had just recovered. They both wore red armour that looked ancient yet high tech at the same time.

"I cannot believe that out Empire has fallen." The second Prothean was saying.

"It will not." The other one assured him. "Get to your stasis pod. We will rise again, for the Empire."

"For the Empire." The second agreed, he headed for his pod.

"Victory." The first Prothean addressed a VI. "What is our status?"

"70% of the life pods have been activated, Commander Javik." Victory answered. "What about the civilians outside the bunker?"

Javik considered. "Their sacrifice will be honoured in the coming Empire."

"Alert: Reaper forces are incoming." Victory warned.

As soon as Victory had said this, Collectors ran down the tunnels, firing their weapons at the Protheans still out of their pods.

Javik pulled out his beam rifle and opened fire, mowing down the Collectors. A Prothean next to him was killed by incoming fire.

"Victory, seal the bulkheads!" Javik ordered. He flung some sort of biotic attack at the Collectors before grabbing the dead Prothean and hauling him through before the bulkhead sealed.

The bunker was in chaos now. Some of the stasis pods had been destroyed, dead Collectors were inside too, they'd managed to get inside somehow.

"How many?" Javik asked.

"Approximately 250,000 pods have been destroyed." Victory stated.

Javik opened one of the destroyed pods, the body inside had been burnt beyond recognition.

"A third of our people." Javik murmured. "Victory, begin the activation for all pods, we cannot wait any longer."

"Alert: the north bulkhead has been breached."

"Send all forces to the north." Javik ordered.

"Commander Javik, you must enter your pod."

"I will not abandon my warriors." Javik growled.

"Their sacrifice will be honoured in the coming Empire." Victory echoed. "Neutron bombardment must begin in twenty seconds."

He had no choice.

Javik entered his pod, feeling like he was in his coffin as it receded into the wall with him inside.

The pod shook as the bombardment began, everything inside the facility, apart from the Protheans inside the pods, had just been killed.

Javik grimaced. "Status."

"Remaining pods are online." Victory answered. "Alert: power distribution systems have been damaged, loss inevitable."

"Clarify." Javik demanded.

"Automated deactivation is impossible," Victory explained, "you must wait until another species finds this facility." Victory paused. "Power will be triaged appropriately."

The meaning of that hit Javik like a hammer blow. "Do not shut down anymore pods!" He shouted. "I need the few who are left!"

"It is necessary, Javik."

Javik scowled. "What good can a few do?"

"You will be the voice of our people, Commander Javik."

The stasis programme began, a light mist entered the life pod. Javik's limbs and eyes felt heavy, as if he needed to sleep.

"I'll be more than that." He muttered as he fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

><p><em>2186<em>

Shepard blinked as the vision receded, voices steadily making sense around him.

The marines were shouting at Javik, telling him to let Shepard go. Liara was telling them to lower their weapons.

"You are… human." Javik spoke, speaking English.

"Do you understand me?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, I have examined your physiology, your language." Javik answered. He glanced at the marines and Liara. "Humans, asari." He murmured. "I am surrounded by primitives." He looked at Shepard again. "How many remain?"

"You were the only one."

Javik lowered his head for a moment. "Damn that machine." Shepard guessed that he was referring to Victory. "What of the Reapers?"

"We're fighting them now." Shepard answered. "We found your beacons."

"And the data cache on Mars." Liara added.

Javik blinked. "I know little of Mars." He stated. "I am a soldier, not a scientist."

"What about this?" Liara activated her omni-tool, showing Javik the Prothean data.

Javik frowned, coming closer to examine the code and ignoring the marines. He examined the reams of symbols for a few moments.

"This is a code." He stated. "I cannot tell you what it means, but it has something to do with the Reapers, their structure."

"Can you help Liara to translate it?" Shepard asked. "I can't understand the code, it's encrypted. Liara's trying to decipher it."

"This code is only meant for those who were given the means to understand." Javik stated. "If the Reapers were to send an indoctrinated slave, he would not understand. You need another Cipher."

By now, the marines had gathered that Javik wasn't a threat to them, at long last.

"It is interesting that you are allied with an asari." Javik commented, he paused and sniffed. "Correction; bonded with an asari. In my time, few races were united."

"We're also allied with the turians, volus, hanar and salarians." Liara added.

"The lizard people evolved?" Javik asked.

"I think the term is _amphibians_."

Javik seemed to smile for a second. "They used to eat flies."

They found Javik some space in one of the observation modules. Despite it all, he adapted quickly to his new situation.

But they were still no closer to finding the answers, or what the code meant.

Liara's spirits had been dampened, Javik kept brushing her off when she wanted to ask about the Protheans.

"Commander," Joker called over the intercom. "There's a… problem in the other module."

Shepard shook his head, he seemed to end up doing everything. As he stepped into the module, he remembered that they had made this place into a bar or something like a pub.

Nothing seemed out of place until he spotted something curled up on the floor.

"Williams?" He asked.

Ashley groaned.

"What have we here?"

"Oh, sir, I'm off duty." She tried to wave him away, feebly. "Your voice… not so loud, please. Thank you."

"Why are you curled up on the floor?"

"Am I?" It was obvious that she was drunk. "Oh, my head! So heavy, can't move."

"Ah. Enjoy your evening?" Shepard inquired, amused.

"I'll be back to work in thirty, uh… maybe forty. I swear, just give me forty-five minutes, shh, shh…"

"How did you end up in this sorry state?"

"Just wanted to let off some steam," she explained drowsily, "Vega said he had just the thing."

"Did that come out of a bottle?"

"Yes."

"This empty bottle?"

"It's empty?" Ashley glanced at it. "Oh boy."

Shepard folded his arms. "You know, I think's time we tested the alarm." He smiled.

"I'll pay you a million credits not to." Ashley groaned.

"Two million, and you've got it."

"You're a damn space pirate."

Shepard smirked. "I could always order Joker to sing to you."

"I hate you."

"I hate you…" Shepard prompted.

"Sir." Ashley added.

"As you were, Williams." Shepard shook his head. "On the floor."

Shepard spent a while checking the galaxy map. The Reapers were attacking several planets now. Most of them were colony worlds, apart from Palaven.

He noticed that they were closer to Thessia too.

The joking in the cockpit took his mind of it though, Garrus and Joker were exchanging turian and human jokes.

"So what's the first order an Alliance Admiral gives before battle?" Garrus asked.

Joker thought for a few moments. "I give up." He conceded.

"Exactly!" Garrus laughed.

"Fine, so what do you call it when a big spiky monster kills a turian?"

"Friendly fire." Garrus grinned.

Shepard went back to checking the galaxy map. But he could still hear the jokes.

"So, how many humans does it take to activate a Mass Relay?" Garrus asked.

"602." Joker answered. "600 to vote on it, one to ask the asari for help and one to request a seat on the Council afterwards."

Shepard gave up plotting courses, he was too tired. Ashley needed to deal with a hangover before they went into action too.

If there was anything important, no doubt someone would call him in the com room.

* * *

><p><em>It was the same forest, the same smouldering trees. Ashes were falling like hot snow. The grass had withered and died. <em>

_Shadowy figures flitted between the trees, Shepard could hear Banshees howling in the distance. Reapers were overhead, Shepard could hear the harsh blaring sound they made. _

"_Shepard." A voice whispered. _

"_It's done, Commander." Kaidan's voice echoed. "Go get Williams, and get the hell out of there!"_

"_Screw that, we can handle ourselves!" Ashley's voice shouted. _

_Shepard didn't know what to do, he walked aimlessly through the smoking forest. _

"_I'm sorry, Kaidan." His own voice spoke. "I had to make a choice."_

"_I understand, I don't regret a thing." Kaidan responded before fading into the empty horizon. _

_Shepard kept on walking, no sign of the boy this time, this dream was different. _

"_I want this to be special." Liara's voice breathed. _

_The landscape changed slightly, a battle scarred and broken wall with a horde of batarians outside. _

_One figure in damaged Alliance armour was crouched amongst the rubble and the dead, firing at the batarians._

_Shepard knew that he was looking at himself, holding the line on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz. _

_They'd called him a hero. But he'd been scared, so scared. Just one bullet between him and death. _

_The place changed again, to what looked like a factory, only it was the slums of a city in Canada, one that was gone now. _

_A lone figure walked down the dirty streets, just a man on his way to work. _

_A smaller figure in grubby, tattered clothes followed quietly. _

_Shepard saw the switchblade in his hand. He ran forwards, trying to stop him, but felt something tug him back. _

"_You've got to go through with this…" _

_The smaller figure struck, driving the blade into the man's spine whilst clamping a hand over his mouth. He pulled the man down and rifled through his pockets, grabbing a wallet. _

_The man looked up at the sky vacantly, his jacket stained dark red. _

_The young man looked up at Shepard. He looked different, younger, dirtier. _

_But the eyes were the same. _

_He was looking at himself. _

"_Shepard!" A voice whispered. "How could you?"_

"Commander?" Traynor called over the intercom. "There's a message in the com room."

Shepard sat up and rubbed his eyes. If these dreams were going to continue then he would try and avoid sleep for a while.

Whatever they meant, they weren't helping.

Shepard took the lift down to the CIC and walked into the com room, the flashing icon showed that the message was urgent. Not a good sign.

Shepard turned the holographic projectors on.

Two figures appeared, separate though, they were transmitting from different locations.

One was Aria T'Loak, the former "queen" of Omega. She was sat down somewhere, a club knowing her.

The other was Zaeed Massani, a merc who had helped Shepard take down the Collectors. His transmission was a little fuzzy, he seemed to be coordinating other mercs.

"Commander Shepard." Aria didn't look pleased, Shepard knew that she had lost Omega to Cerberus after the Bahak Relay had been destroyed. "I hear that you're preparing to fight the Reapers." She leaned forwards. "And Cerberus."

Shepard knew better than to deny that, he could use Aria's help anyway. He nodded.

"I'll cut to the chase, I sent a team to try and retake Omega a few days ago." Aria explained. "They're pinned down in the lower districts."

"Goddamn Cerberus toys are keeping us down." Zaeed added, so he was on Omega.

"I put your friend, Zaeed in charge of the strike force." Aria told Shepard. "But they need your help. Zaeed tells me that one of your allies knows another way in."

Shepard knew which one; Garrus. Aria continued to talk, Zaeed looked like he was shouting at some vorcha.

"Cerberus hasn't counted on everything though." Aria said. "A rogue operative turned up and has been making their lives on Omega very difficult. This operative wants to meet you there, says he has information that can help your _project_." She smirked. "And off course, the Reapers are bad for business too. You retake Omega, I'll give you the Terminus fleets."

The offers were too good to ignore, any risk that could give them an edge was worth taking in this war.

"I'll gather my team." Shepard told her. "We're heading for Omega."

* * *

><p>The Normandy moved in slowly with the stealth systems online. The mushroom shaped space station that was Omega was surrounded by Cerberus ships and asteroids.<p>

"I hope they've got a plan." Joker muttered. "Even I don't want to go against all those ships."

"Commander, there's a transmission coming from Omega." EDI told him. "Unknown caller, using a scrambler."

"Let's hear it." Shepard requested.

The scrambler meant that they couldn't get a proper voice, it sounded like a salarian but could have been a quarian for all they knew.

"SSV Normandy, I can see you approaching." The voice stated. "I know your plan, head for the designated point, I'll keep the ships off."

"How?" Shepard asked.

"Like this." Two of the Cerberus cruisers suddenly exploded. Three more started to veer around as if their pilots were drunk, one of them slammed into an asteroid.

"Wish I could that." Garrus murmured. "Head for these coordinates." He pointed at the navigation display, Joker steered the ship towards the bottom of Omega.

"This is the exhaust and garbage dump point," Garrus explained, "it isn't glamorous, but it should get us in."

"No-one ever said being a Spectre was glamorous." Shepard shrugged. "Ashley, you know your part?"

"Yeah, get in and fight." Ashley patted her assault rifle. "Got it, skipper."

"How's the hangover?"

"Better."

"Good, you'll need a clear head." Shepard checked his omni-tool. "I'll be going in quietly with Garrus, Tali and Javik. You'll be taking Grunt, Liara and James."

"Javik can fight?" Ashley sounded incredulous.

Shepard nodded. "Meet up with Zaeed and help him to shore up the defences until we take out the Cerberus defence grid."

The Normandy closed with access hatch and docked. Shepard and his team ran through the hatch and into a narrow chamber filled with garbage, rusting metal and stuff they didn't want to guess about.

"Looks like a dead end." Tali muttered.

"Have some faith." Garrus reassured her. "I escaped from some Vorcha by coming down here. "We climb up this shaft until we reach my old hideout." He approached a wall panel and removed the screws. There were grappling hooks hidden inside. He threw one to each person, then stood back and demonstrated how to use one.

"I never did anything like this in my cycle." Javik stated.

"Is that a good thing?" Tali asked carefully.

"It is interesting." Javik answered.

Garrus pulled himself up with the grapple, the others followed. They arrived at a small tunnel, it looked like Garrus cut a hole through into the existing tunnel.

"If I'd realised sooner, my team could have fled this way." He explained. "We had more tunnels leading to the docks, we would have stowed aboard another ship." He worked the grill loose. "Enough moping though, this way."

They had to crawl through, the tunnel was barely big enough for Garrus. It was a good thing they hadn't brought Grunt with them.

"This Cerberus, what are they?" Javik asked. "Why do you fight them?"

"They're allied with the Reapers." Shepard answered.

"That is good enough for me."

Garrus kicked out another grill and hopped out of the vent. "This is it." He pulled out his rifle. "My old hideout, the lower levels."

"I sealed the shutters." Shepard remembered.

"I've still got the override." Garrus explained. He led them to the shutters and used his omni-tool to open them again. They continued up into his old hideout. The place was still riddled with bullets, but the bodies had been removed, the scrap from the mechs had been scavenged.

Garrus looked a little saddened as he remembered his team, walking through the hideout. But he stuck to the present task and kept on walking, only stopping when he reached the entrance.

"Wait." He murmured. He walked back into the hideout and up to the table in what had been arranged as a lounge.

He placed an old pistol on the table, initials were stencilled on the grip, the names of his team. "We'd always meet here, I put their names on this gun, like a mascot." He sighed. "Sorry, I think they needed some closure."

"It's alright, Garrus." Shepard nodded. "They'd be pleased."

"Yeah." Garrus murmured. "I hope so."

* * *

><p>The Normandy dropped Ashley and her group off near Zaeed's position, his mercs had secured a lower level docking bay.<p>

"Glad to see you lot." Zaeed greeted them. "Once Shepard's taken out Cerberus' defences we can all be big goddamn heroes."

"Ah, you don't know him." Grunt noticed Ashley's confused look. "He's tough and worthy."

"A few krogan have said that." Zaeed shrugged. "Now then, Shepard saw you're military. I've got two squads on the flanks, most of them are covering the main tunnel. Cerberus has sent a few tanks, but they've stayed put for now since we took them out."

"How many mercs have you got?" Liara asked.

"Fifty one left from Eclipse, seventy-seven from the Blue Sun and only thirty-two left from the Blood Pack." Zaeed answered. "Their too bloody reckless. But the Suns have heavy weapons and Eclipse has the mechs, including two YMIRs and three squads of LOKI mechs."

"Good." Ashley said. "Show us the field."

"You're looking at it." Zaeed gestured at the tunnel beyond the barricade that had been put up. "Like I said, Cerberus kept sending mechs and tanks, but we blew them up." He pointed at two smaller corridors, one on each side. "They sent teams through those, but we held them off." He shook his heads. "The Adjutants are the worst part of it."

"Adjutants?" Liara repeated. "Aren't they a Cerberus weapon?"

"Yeah, Reaper tech." Zaeed confirmed. "Don't let 'em touch you." He strode up to the main barricade. "Men, we've got reinforcements!" He called. "Treat them well or I'll make you sorry."

Liara took a look at the tunnel, Zaeed had been right about tanks. There were three destroyed Hammerheads and five gutted IVFs inside, along with dead soldiers and broken mechs. The Blue Suns manning the barricade were ready for more, several of them were carrying missile and grenade launchers.

It was odd to be fighting with them rather than against them. Aria had obviously made them band together to retake Omega.

"Anything?" Zaeed asked one of the snipers.

"Nothing." The batarian replied.

"Then they've got something special coming up." Zaeed muttered. "Keep an eye out."

* * *

><p>They'd reached the slums now. People were still on Omega, hiding from Cerberus troops who took them away for some unknown purpose.<p>

"It still stinks up here." Garrus muttered. "Wait, looks like we've got trouble."

A couple of ORCUS mechs were striding towards them.

"We could take them out, but Cerberus might notice." Garrus whispered.

"We can't take too long." Tali added. "We need to move."

"The quarian is right." Javik agreed. "We should advance."

They all had a point, they were close to Afterlife, which Cerberus was using as a command centre, much like Aria had.

"Alright, get ready." Shepard raised his rifle.

The ORCUS mechs came closer, close enough.

Tali jumped out in front of them and blasted them with her shotgun. The mechs went down like stones.

"Clear!" Tali called. "We've got about thirty seconds before they guess."

Shepard took the lead and led them forwards quickly. He remembered the layout of the slums, despite the Cerberus fortifications.

They moved out, into the streets near Afterlife. There were no Cerberus mechs or troops around though.

"Too quiet." Tali murmured. "They must have noticed the mechs going down."

"They are setting an ambush." Javik stated. "We should be cautious."

"Does that light show gun work on organics?" Garrus asked, gesturing at the strange rifle Javik was carrying.

"It is a particle beam weapon," Javik told him, "it will work on machines and organics."

"Good to know." Garrus nodded. "Because Cerberus uses both."

"So do the Reapers." Javik added.

"What was that?" Tali pointed at something.

Something had knocked over a couple of crates, but whatever it was had gone.

"Stay close," Shepard ordered, "weapons free."

They moved slowly, knowing that they were under threat, again.

"There!" Garrus fired at something that shot past. Shepard caught a glance of grey leathery skin and a strange blue glow. It was taller than him, with claws.

"That must be one of those Adjutants." Garrus murmured. "EDI heard about them being developed by Cerberus R and D."

"Don't let it get close." Shepard warned.

The Adjutant flashed past again before revealing itself. It made a gurgling sound before charging and swiping at them with its claws.

"Down!" Tali shouted.

Shepard heard and felt the blast of the shotgun firing. So did the Adjutant, it took the blast full on to the torso. Grey fluid sprayed out of the exit wounds as it fell.

Shepard got to his feet, ears ringing. "Come on, we'd better move before they send more."

* * *

><p>"Incoming!" One of the salarians yelled just before a bullet smashed through his helmet and head.<p>

"Bollocks!" Zaeed hissed, taking cover. "I was hoping they'd take longer." He opened fire, shouting orders at the mercs.

A couple of IFVs were deploying troops and mechs, they were using their machine guns to suppress the mercs.

"Bring up the rocket launchers!" Ashley yelled over the noise.

A couple of Blue Suns ran up with rocket launchers and waited for the order.

"Now!" Zaeed shouted.

The two mercs jumped up and fired a couple of rockets, hitting the IFVs and blowing them apart.

"Look out!" A batarian cried. "Phan…" He was cut short by an omni-blade severing his throat.

"Phantoms!" Liara finished, opening fire on the assassin.

"Cowards!" Grunt bellowed, blasting one apart with his shotgun. "Come out and fight!"

"Incoming mechs," Ashley reported, "return fire."

A Phantom leapt at Liara with a drawn omni-blade. Liara rolled aside, facing the Phantom with a determined glare.

The Phantom charged, Liara ducked under her swing and stabbed her own omni-blade into the Phantom's chest.

After seeing the squad footage of Devils in combat, Shepard had decided to acquire omni-blades for his allies, better safe than in pieces.

"What the hell was that?" A turian shouted. "Something just flashed across the tunnel."

Liara saw the Adjutant just before it decapitated another merc. She flung it into a wall with her biotics and riddled it with her SMG.

"Hold them back!" Zaeed yelled. "Bring up the heavies!"

* * *

><p>Shepard decided to forget patience, he let Garrus plant a frame charge on the door.<p>

When it detonated, it cut the door away from the wall, it just fell into the club. The squad ran in with their weapons drawn.

The club was still active, music was still pulsing. Cerberus wasn't here for fun, the sound was meant to cover something.

"Shepard." A cold voice called. "You just don't know when to give up."

"I could say the same for you," Shepard responded, "Kai Leng."

"You might have had an easier time getting here." Leng was somewhere, they couldn't see him. The music was covering his movement. "Your friends are not as lucky."

The images on the central pillar changed. They showed an intense gunfight in the lower tunnels, Shepard could see Grunt holding the line with Zaeed, he could see Liara fighting off a pair of Phantoms.

But then he saw the OGRE mechs stomping towards them, they were badly outgunned.

"Drop your weapons, and I'll call off my forces." Leng stated.

"Ignore him," Garrus hissed, "he'll just kill us. They can manage."

"Do not give in." Javik agreed. "We must defeat the enemy at any cost."

But it was harder than it seemed.

He saw one of the OGRE mechs open fire, the explosion sent Ashley sprawling as the barricade broke. One of the Phantoms had tripped Liara, she only had her omni-blade and biotics between her and a blade to the heart.

Shepard prepared to eject the thermal clip from his rifle.

The lights dimmed suddenly, the music cut out.

When the images appeared again, the mechs had stopped working and Cerberus was distracted. Shepard saw Liara fling one of the Phantoms away and jump away from the other one. Grunt grabbed the nearest ORCUS and ripped its arms off.

"What…" Leng spat.

"I was fed up with the tension." A gruff voice spoke, Shepard heard the sound of a rifle being loaded. "Cerberus has got a lot to pay for."

Leng made a sound like a snake hissing as he drew his sword.

A man in greyish arm with the Cerberus logos scraped off walked out onto one of the balconies, carrying an M97 Maul. He had cybernetics grafted into his skin.

"Sorry about the scrambler, Cerberus and I have bones to pick." He growled.

"Randall Enzo." The Cerberus assassin hissed. "You're a traitor to mankind."

"We'll see about that." The former Cerberus operative opened fire on Leng, forcing him to move.

Leng sprang from the balcony and onto another, holding a pair of SMGs.

Shepard took cover behind a bar and opened fire on Leng. Javik's beam rifle spewed a long lance of green fire at the assassin.

Leng ran ahead of it, firing a stream of bullets at the squad and Enzo.

The assassin jumped down into the bar and opened fire on Shepard's squad. Tali deployed her attack drone to distract Leng, giving them enough time to move into cover.

A biotic attack crashed close to Leng, Randall still had his biotic skills.

"Keep it up!" Randall yelled.

Leng activated his cloak and vanished.

Shepard turned, only to see the assassin above him with the SMGs aimed at his head.

Something knocked him down, making him drop the SMGs. Leng looked up to see Garrus stood over him, rifle pointed at him.

Leng kicked the rifle out of his hands and jumped down into the bar again, pulling out his sword.

Bullets crashed into his shields, one of them went through and hit him in the stomach.

Leng snarled and ran, he was outgunned again.

"Keep an eye out." Randall ordered. "I'll deal with the grid."

* * *

><p>"We're taking heavy casualties!" Ashley shouted.<p>

"Just keep fighting!" James shouted back over the gunfire.

The mechs were going to overwhelm them soon, the just kept on advancing, right onto the barricade.

Ashley smashed her rifle into the head of one and finished it off with a gunshot.

Grunt roared and charged into a group of them, disappearing into a flying mass of scrap metal.

Another Phantom struck, knocking the Tempest out of Liara's hand.

Liara grabbed her Phalanx and fired it into the Phantom's chest at point blank range. She grabbed the Phantom's Phalanx in her other hand and opened fire on a group of mechs.

"Sod it!" Zaeed cursed. "Two YMIR mechs incoming, bring up the Cain."

A merc ran up with the bulky weapon and took aim, charging it up.

An Adjutant appeared behind him and cut him in half, sending the weapon flying into the tunnel.

James turned and filled the creature with bullets. But the Cain was out of reach, the mechs were closing in. They opened fire with their machine guns, cutting a bloody swath through several of the mercs.

More mechs were following, two more YMIRs and an OGRE.

"Incoming!" James shouted, opening fire on some FENRIS mechs that had slipped through one of the flanks.

"Shepard had better work a miracle soon." Zaeed muttered.

"Someone grab some heavy weapons!" Ashley yelled as a missile crashed into the barricade.

"That Cain was the last one!" Zaeed yelled back. "We're fucked!"

He seemed to be right, the mechs were halfway down the tunnel.

"Can you take out their shields?" Liara asked.

"What?" James shouted.

"Can you take out their shields?" Liara repeated, louder.

"Worth a try." Zaeed accepted. "Concentrate fire one the lead mechs!"

The remaining mercs sprang up, the deafening roar of their weapons filled the tunnel. The mechs continued to fire, mowing many of the mercs down.

The shields on one of the mechs went down, then the second.

"Aim for their heads!" Liara shouted, firing both pistols at the mechs.

The head of the first mech exploded and it fell to its knees. The second followed.

"Get down!" Ashley realised that blowing the head off a YMIR mech made its core explode. Violently.

The tunnel shook as two mushroom shaped clouds, technically not nuclear but about as deadly, shot up. They engulfed the other mechs and incinerated them.

"Nice shooting." Zaeed remarked. "But we've still got a bunch of Cerberus troops to kill."

* * *

><p>Kai Leng sealed the doors behind him, he was going to the shuttle bay and had a fallback option.<p>

If Cerberus couldn't have Omega, then no-one would.

"This is Leng, set the element zero cores to meltdown." He instructed. "Release the husks and Adjutants."

"Acknowledged." The VI said. "All Cerberus personnel should…"

"No, don't announce it."

"The meltdown will kill all lifeforms still present on Omega."

"If you alert our forces, then Shepard will know." Leng stated. "Begin the meltdown, but keep it quiet. Override priority one."

"As you wish." The VI accepted. "Beginning meltdown."

* * *

><p>"There goes the grid." Randall murmured. "I'd better introduce myself. Randall Enzo, former Cerberus operative, now an enemy to them." He extended his hand, Shepard shook it. "Any enemy of Cerberus is a friend of mine."<p>

"What next?" Shepard asked.

"We mop up the remaining Cerberus forces," Enzo shrugged, "and I've got some intel for you."

He plugged an OSD into the console and brought up some images.

"Here," he pointed, "Cerberus has some intel to do with Thessia."

Alarms began to blare.

"That can't be good." Garrus muttered.

Randall pulled out the OSD and checked the systems. "The systems have been overridden, the captured husks and remaining Adjutants have been released."

"All of them?" Tali exclaimed.

"Cerberus doesn't do something that risky without a plan." Randall began to hack into the system. "Ah, clever." He shook his head. "The VI is putting the eezo cores into meltdown, the husks are meant to stop us." He grabbed his rifle. "I can deal with it, but I need you to keep the husks at bay."

"We'll take care of them." Shepard told him. "Garrus, help Randall with those cores."

"I'm on it." Garrus nodded, he followed Enzo through a hatch that led into the station's core.

Shepard heard a sickly yelling and took aim. "Get ready."

"King of the hill with husks." Tali groaned.

"Have courage." Javik checked his weapon. "At least you are not fighting a Reaper."

* * *

><p>"I take it that the alarms are bad?" James guessed.<p>

"Everyone, pool ammo and grab some cover." Ashley shouted.

As the mercs followed her instructions, Zaeed spotted something moving up the tunnel. Lots of them too.

"Wait," he instructed, "I think they're…" He frowned. "On second thought, open fire!"

The vorcha had been changed, their skin was dotted with yellow lights and their skin was pale and sagging. They were all carrying a weapon that resembled a shotgun.

The bullets ripped into them, but they just rose again with rapidly healing wounds.

"Damn it!" Zaeed spat. "Vorcha regenerate, so do these husks."

"Use incendiaries if you have them." Ashley instructed. "Biotics too."

The vorcha husks were opening fire with their shotguns, although they were like spike guns, impaling the mercs with jagged splinters of metal.

The incendiary rounds were killing them, but they were numerous too.

"What the hell is that?" Ashley shouted.

Something large, about the size of a Brute was coming behind the vorcha husks. It looked like a krogan with a row of jagged horns on its head, a heavy blade on its left arm and a gatling gun on the other.

"I think those Brutes just got updated." James grimaced.

"Never mind that," Zaeed took aim, "just kill the damn thing!"

* * *

><p>"Hear that?" Garrus asked.<p>

"Yeah, I heard it." Randall answered, still fiddling with the controls for the cooling rod. "Sounds like a hell of a fight."

"How did you end up turning on Cerberus?"

"Long story." Randall stated. "Short version; I found out about their experiments, taking people and turning them into monsters. They did that to my handler, made her into a monster and made me fight her." He paused. "I swore to kill the man who did that to her."

"You're first in line then." Garrus nodded.

Randall inserted the cooling rod, now the reactor was stabilised. "Don't celebrate, Cerberus will try to blow up the station with their ships." Randall warned him. "Shepard needs to keep holding, we're going to reactivate the guns on this station and turn them on the Cerberus ships."

* * *

><p>Shepard heard the Valkyrie click, he switched to his sidearm, putting two holes in the Adjutants head. Javik's many years in stasis hadn't made him rusty, he was carving through the husks with his beam weapon and biotics.<p>

The alarms had stopped blaring, it looked like Randall had stabilised the core.

"They're losing!" Shepard yelled. "Keep it up!"

"I fight for the lost!" Javik bellowed, firing a searing lance of energy through a couple of vorcha husks.

* * *

><p>The krogan husk was right on top of them, mincing the mercs with its gatling gun and blade. Bullets were pinging off its armour like stones against steel.<p>

Even James' Revenant was little use against the armoured monster.

Zaeed hurled a grenade at the creature, but all it did was irritate it.

The krogan husk roared and barged into the mercenary, sending him flying.

It took aim with the gatling gun, the barrels began to spin.

"Now you're dead!" The husk hit the ground, knocked down by Grunt's shotgun.

The husk got to its feet and swung the blade. Grunt ducked and grabbed a broken girder, countering the broken metal beam. The crude weapon bent the barrels of the gatling gun, making it useless.

The husk hit Grunt with the blade, but the krogan only staggered and roared, stabbing the girder into the husk's chest.

He grabbed the blade arm and forced the weapon into the husk's head.

The husk gurgled and fell back, killed with its own blade.

Grunt laughed loudly. "Weakling!"

* * *

><p>The Cerberus ships began to turn, plotting firing solutions on Omega.<p>

Weapons warnings began to flash on their consoles as Omega's defence cannons came back to life, taking aim and opening fire on the Cerberus blockade.

Outgunned, the ships began to retreat, or were torn apart by the cannons.

For better or for worse, Omega had been secured.

After mopping up the remaining enemies on Omega and dealing with Cerberus personnel, Shepard let Aria know that Omega was hers again.

Now they had a fleet of mercs ready to take on the Reapers, an odd occurrence but a welcome one nonetheless.

They also had Randall Enzo's data, locations of Cerberus bases and a lead on Thessia. They needed authorisation before they went there though.

But when Shepard returned to the war room and took a look at the battle map, he noticed something chilling.

The Reapers had reached Thessia.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I've seen Infiltrator, and it ends a bit abruptly so I might as well tie up Randall Enzo's part in the Mass Effect universe in "Inferno".<strong>_

_**I found an epic remix called "Defend Earth" by Plasma3Music and a song called "Take it back" by Miracle Of Sound, spent most of this extract listening to those, hence all the action. **_

_**As for our friend, Kai Leng, I think his reputation has been thoroughly ruined.**_

_**The next mission is going to be a big one. **_


	18. A bitter loss

_**Now for an extended mission, it's time to bring back an old enemy. **_

_**About the squad, I know it keeps going beyond two members. But this is fanfiction and I've been playing Gears of War, it's leaving an impression on me, this is another major battle too.**_

_**That said, I think the "Destroy" ending is very similar to the ending of Gears of War 3, only Gears has a better ending. The "Synthesis" ending is ripped from Frank Herbert's Dune. The last bit of this rant: The Catalyst creates synthetics to wipe out organics to stop synthetics wiping out organics. WTF?**_

_**Come on EA and Bioware!**_

* * *

><p>"All hands stop!" Joker shouted. "Commander, a Reaper fleet just attacked Thessia, the asari fleet is in disarray."<p>

"Those coordinates are for a location in the asari capital city, take us down." Shepard instructed.

"Can't do that, Commander. Reaper forces are swarming all over." Joker explained. "I can drop you here, at Armali."

"It'll have to do." Shepard turned and walked towards the lift, only to be intercepted by Liara.

"Shepard, those are my people," she sounded desperate, "I _have_ to go with you."

"Get your gear." Shepard told her. "Meet us at the shuttle."

Shepard hurried down to the shuttle bay, meeting Javik and James on the way.

"Whoa, Loco!" James called. "What's going on?"

"Reapers are attacking Thessia," Shepard explained, "we're going in."

James grabbed his machine gun. "We're coming, you'll need the firepower." He loaded the weapon. "Ash and the others can take the second shuttle."

"Fine." Shepard entered the shuttle. "EDI, alert the Council fleets, Thessia needs reinforcements."

"This isn't because it's Liara's homeworld." Garrus understood.

"I don't want to see another Earth." Shepard confirmed.

Liara hurried into the shuttle. Shepard gave the go order and Cortez piloted the shuttle towards Thessia, the second followed them.

"We're heading for Armali, it's the safest route into the city." Shepard explained. "Once the LZ is secure, Joker will drop the Makos."

"It's gonna be hell down there." James added. "We need the firepower."

Liara was very quiet, watching the images from Thessia. The Reaper fleet was carving through the orbital defences and the asari ships were trying to retreat.

On the ground, cities were being burnt and Reaper ground forces were cutting down civilians in the street and overwhelming asari defences.

"It's going to get hectic." Cortez warned them. "There's a large Reaper force at the LZ, including some of those elcor husks."

"Can you take care of them?" Ashley asked over the radio.

"Our guns against theirs?" Cortez shook his head. "Negative."

"Forget landing." Shepard reached across for a bulky pack on a harness. He strapped it to his back. "We'll use the thruster-packs, insert Cerberus style."

"That's…" Garrus considered. "Crazy."

"Do you want to be grounded the hard way?" James asked.

Garrus shook his head and took one of the packs.

The two shuttles didn't descend, the squads jumped when they opened the doors. Garrus went out shouting profanities, James just whooped.

They had to get the timing right otherwise they'd make a mess on the ground.

The wind made hearing difficult, if not impossible, they had to go by sight.

"Activate the packs now!" Shepard ordered. He hit the button and felt his descent slow as the thrusters kicked in.

It took a minute to reach the ground safely. Garrus, Liara and Javik landed nearby.

"In my cycle, we used anti-gravity and Mass Effect fields." Javik said as he dumped the thruster-pack on the ground.

"Sounds like you had the better deal." Garrus muttered.

"Focus," Liara grimaced, "husks are close."

Garrus didn't object, knowing better, and pulled out his rifle.

As they moved through the trees, Shepard heard his radio hiss into life.

"Skipper, it's Ashley." The voice whispered. "We're right on top of a Reaper position. I've got James, Grunt and Tali with me."

"Stay quiet, we're on our way." Shepard told them.

"Understood."

"Pick it up." Shepard began to run forwards, using the trees for cover.

There was something odd about this place, but he couldn't place it.

Javik paused and looked up at the sky, the fiery trails that were Reapers descending to the surface.

"Javik?" Garrus stopped next to him.

"She will not accept it." Javik stated.

"What?"

"This word is doomed."

* * *

><p>"Down!" James hissed, crouching behind the rocks. They were in a park of some kind, and it seemed to be a Reaper outpost.<p>

The Cannibals walked past them, on their way to the burning city.

"Clear." Tali whispered.

Ashley took another look at the outpost below. "Looks like a gun battery." She murmured. "Anti-air I guess."

"Doesn't matter." James shrugged. "It needs to go."

"Where's Shepard?" Grunt muttered. "I want to crack some heads."

"He'll be here." Ashley told him firmly. "Just wait."

Grunt huffed and folded his arms.

"Cortez was right." Ashley continued. "Elcor husks, and some of those Stingers." She hesitated. "Wait, are those _quarians_?"

Tali scrambled up to take a look. _"Keelah…" _She breathed.

The quarian husks were fitted with some kind of device, probably to keep them from succumbing to infections. Their arms had been replaced with some sort of four spiked device with electricity sparking off.

"Don't tell me, those are arc casters." James groaned. "They'll fry our shields."

"How did they do this?" Tali was clearly dismayed, even if they couldn't see her face. "Can we help them?"

Ashley shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tali."

Tali shook her head. "It's one more thing the Reapers will pay for."

* * *

><p>Shepard felt like he was lost now, running between the smouldering trees.<p>

Reaper weapons did kick up a lot of heat, but how could they affect a whole planet?

The trees…

Shepard stopped to take a breath, feeling the ash landing on him.

Then he realised.

This was the forest he saw in his dreams.

He shook his head, he needed to focus. Liara had just run past him, he had to remember that he had a galaxy to save.

He carried on running, through the forest and up the hill.

"Slow down." Liara warned him. "Reapers ahead."

Shepard crouched down and moved slowly, Garrus and Javik followed suit.

"Ashley, we're in position, on the hill." Shepard whispered.

"We in the rocks above them." Ashley told him. "The Reapers had quarian husks now."

"Damn it." Shepard hissed. "Ready weapons."

They moved up, staying low. They could see the rock formation where Ashley was.

"We in front of you, watch the crossfire." Shepard warned.

"Got it." Ashley acknowledged. "Ready to fire."

"On three, two, one." Shepard threw a grenade, Ashley's squad opened fire.

The husks returned fire. James had been right about the quarian husks, they were armed with arc caster weapons.

Something screeched, Garrus shouted about an air attack.

Shepard moved as something swooped past, it looked like some kind of bird, only about the size of a human with feathers that were now synthetic.

More of them were strafing Ashley's position with a burst firing projectile weapons and grenades.

"Those are Raloi!" Liara realised.

That was odd, the Raloi were pre-spaceflight, why were the Reapers using them?

"Take them down." Shepard instructed, taking aim and bringing one of them down.

The squads continued to fire until the last husk fell.

"Joker, we're clear." Shepard radioed. "Drop the Makos."

* * *

><p>The Normandy swooped in and dropped the tanks. Hammerheads would have been good for a quick entry and skirmish. But this was a war zone, they needed the heavy shields and armour that a Mako offered.<p>

They drove the Makos through the ash covered forest and towards the burning capital.

Liara tried not to look her devastated homeworld, but couldn't stop herself.

The atmosphere was tense, no-one wanted to talk. This was all too much.

They entered the city, the flaming spires and blackened towers were not the worst sights.

Burnt and torn corpses lay in the streets. Creatures that resembled the Keepers on the Citadel, only with some armour and blue lights, scuttled around recovering intact bodies.

James leant out of the hatch of his Mako and fired a shot at them, making them scatter.

Raloi husks and Harvesters were swooping over defence posts. Reapers were striding through the city.

"Shepard." Liara spoke for the first time in half-an-hour. She was very quiet, Shepard could see tears in her eyes.

"Take over." He told Garrus, the turian took the controls.

Shepard sat next to Liara, wondering if there was some way he could comfort or reassure her.

"Was it like this on Earth?" She croaked.

"Liara…" He began.

"Don't give me false hope, Shepard." She frowned. "Just tell me."

Shepard took a breath. "Yes."

Liara didn't say another word. Shepard tried to calm her by holding her hand, but she removed it without a word.

Seeing that he wasn't wanted, he returned to the controls.

"Elcor husks ahead," Garrus pointed, "someone man the gun."

Javik activated the turret and took aim.

"Short controlled…" Garrus began.

"Bursts." Javik finished. "I know." He fired the cannon. "But the cannon is better."

The radio began to buzz, Garrus adjusted the settings to hear the frequency.

"…Repeat, this is outpost Tykis, two unidentified vehicles are moving in."

"They're Alliance, M35 Makos." Someone else noticed.

"Get those gunships moving, I want them covered!"

"This is Talon squadron," a gunship pilot responded, "we're on the move."

Five gunships flew over, keeping the Raloi husks and Harvesters off them.

"Talon squadron, this is Commander Shepard, thanks for the assistance." Shepard called. "We need to reach outpost Tykis."

"We've got you covered." Talon responded.

Shepard upped the speed, the Mako bounced over debris and the dead husks, the second Mako picked up speed to stay close.

The gunships followed overhead, weaving in between the shattered towers.

As they emerged from the outskirts, they saw the scale of the battle.

Swarms of Oculus fighters and flying husks were destroying asari air support and bombarding positions. Husks were tearing through the streets and overwhelming defences.

Most of the city was in ruins or on fire. The once elegant spires had fallen. There was even the wreckage from an asari warship that had been destroyed by the Reaper fleet in one of the lakes.

The Makos rumbled into the outpost, the asari defenders closed the gates behind them.

Shepard exited the Mako, stepping into the battered outpost.

Close to where the Makos had parked were body-bags, at least twenty of them. There was a wrecked shuttle, now part of the barricade. About fifteen asari were left, their biotics would make them tough opponents for the Reapers, they were still outnumbered however.

"IFVs?" An asari soldier murmured. "Wish we had more of those."

"Who's in charge here?" Shepard called.

An asari with a purple stained bandage round her head limped over, Shepard guessed that the shattered helmet near the body-bags was hers.

"Commander Shepard?" She asked. "Either that or the shot was worse than I thought."

"Sorry?" Ashley frowned.

The asari pointed at the bandage. "Cannibal shot a round through my helmet." She explained. "I was lucky that it just missed my brain." She extended a hand, Shepard shook it. "Lieutenant Kurin, my commanding officer was killed in the first wave."

"We're trying to reach these coordinates." Shepard showed them to her.

She frowned. "The Temple of Athame?"

"According to our intel, there's something there that can help us." Shepard explained.

Kurin shrugged. "If it helps to kill the Reapers," she accepted, "then I'm all for it." She gestured for them to follow her over to a holographic map.

"This is the only safe route left, there's a few Destroyers on the move over here." She told them. "If you can clear the way to the other outposts, then we can gather for an assault or last stand. Either way, not many of us will survive." She said. "The Temple is here, where the Reapers have a heavy presence, including the largest one we've ever seen. I can have the gunships follow you if you want."

"We'll call them if we need support." Shepard told her. "Do you have any armoured support?"

Kurin thought for a few seconds. "Outpost Yennis has a couple of heavy mechs and a tank, I don't know if they're still operational. The gunships are the only things we can count on."

"It's a start." Shepard nodded. "What about your soldiers?"

"They're rattled." Kurin sighed. "We've considered running once or twice, but there's nowhere to go."

"Alright. Stay behind the Makos, we'll clear a path for you."

Kurin nodded, picked up her rifle and limped over to the barricade to tell her troops about the plan.

"We're not using them as fire support?" Ashley asked.

"There's only fifteen of them." Tali pointed out. "They need help."

"Everyone should be prepared to lay down their lives to stop the Reapers." Javik stated icily. "At the end of my cycle, even the children were fighting."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Garrus muttered.

"Get in the Makos." Shepard instructed. "We're taking point."

* * *

><p>The Makos rumbled down the broken street, ascending into the upper city, towards outpost Yennis. Shepard didn't know what the asari words meant, he didn't ask Liara because she was too depressed. He assumed that they were either letters of the alphabet or names that meant something to them.<p>

"Heads up, something big ahead." Garrus warned. Elcor husks were moving towards them.

Liara took the turret, vengeance burning in her eyes as she took aim. The Mako shuddered as the mass accelerator fired, blasting one of the husks to pieces. Ashley's Mako copied their example and killed the other one.

"Incoming Raloi." Shepard called. The machine guns rattled and riddled some of the flying creatures.

Talon squadron swept over them and opened fire.

A stream of projectiles slammed into one of them. The gunship began to spin erratically and plummeted towards the lake below.

"This is Talon two, I'm hit!" The pilot shouted. "Stabiliser's gone, going do…"

Shepard heard the explosion, Talon two was gone. The squadron leader shouted the pilot's name, then fell silent.

"Pilot Serin, Talon two." She murmured. "KIA, she fought bravely."

"She'll be remembered." Another pilot added. "We all will."

The Makos continued to carve a path through to the next outpost. Yennis seemed to be bigger and better defended than Tykis, that said, Tykis had probably taken more fire.

At least Yennis still had firepower, Shepard could see two YMIR mechs with asari livery and a tank holding off Reaper forces. The tank was a hovercraft like the Hammerhead, only this one had two machine guns and a small cannon. There was also an IFV, it only had a machine gun for defence, but it could carry the troops from Tykis and some of the soldiers from Yennis.

"This is outpost Yennis to incoming forces." The outpost commander hailed them. "We're under heavy fire, we've sustained casualties, requesting assistance."

"This is Commander Shepard, we've come with reinforcements from outpost Tykis and Talon squadron." Shepard told her. "Hold position, ETA: thirty seconds."

The asari opened the makeshift gates to the outpost, letting the Makos in. Talon squadron went on ahead to kill the husks outside.

"Commander Shepard, this is Major Delara." An asari carrying a shotgun waved at them. "We've been holding for over an hour, I've lost thirty soldiers, I've only got twenty two, the mechs, an IFV and the tank left."

"We have a plan." Shepard told her over the radio. "We're going to the Temple of Athame and gathering forces along the way."

Delara fell silent for a moment. "The only outpost left is Ikeri, the rest are history."

"Have you heard from them?"

"No, we saw the Reapers kill them. Ikeri is only holding because they've got a large company and some armoured units." Delara explained. "If we can get to them, then we stand a chance."

"Get your vehicles and mechs ready." Shepard instructed. "We're moving out."

Delara started to give orders before taking the tank. The wounded were loaded into the IFV, those who were in better condition were on foot.

The highway was wider ahead, the Makos would take the lead again with the hover-tank behind them. The IFV would follow with the two mechs to guard their backs. The troops on foot would move in between, keeping Reaper infantry off the vehicles.

The odd convoy moved out, heading towards the city centre and the Temple.

Reaper forces became more numerous as they came closer to the city centre.

"Krogan husks ahead!" James shouted. "Watch out for their guns!"

The three krogan husks roared and opened fire with their gatling guns, mowing down several asari troops.

"All armoured units, open fire!" Delara ordered. The tanks opened fire, but the husks were tough.

"Aim for their heads." Grunt advised.

Liara adjusted and fired the cannon, blowing the husk's head off. The other tanks followed Grunt's advice. Talon squadron hovered overhead, taking out any enemies they could see. Bullet casing were raining down on top of the Mako, sounding like rain.

"Keep moving," Shepard advised, "we're exposed."

The convoy began to rumble forwards again.

"We can see the Temple." Delara stated. "Wait… Reaper landing right next to it!"

Shepard saw the massive ship land, it was bigger than the other Reapers, with yellow lights for eyes.

"Harbinger." He breathed.

"If that thing's here…" Garrus began.

"Then it knows we're here." Shepard finished.

"Incoming!" Talon one warned. "Destroyer at nine o'clock!"

Shepard heard the harsh blaring sound as the Reaper stomped through the water below. It trained its cannon on the gunships, the most obvious target from where it was.

"Talon squadron, evasive manoeuvres!" Talon one ordered.

The beam shot towards them, slicing Talon three in half and ripping one of the thrusters off Talon five.

Talon three fell into the lake, no survivors. Talon five spun and began to plummet.

"Move!" Shepard wrenched the Mako away. "Break formation!"

The gunship pilot screamed as her craft crashed into one of the mechs, the explosion tore a hole in the IFV.

"Status?" Delara requested.

"We've lost Talons three and five." Talon one reported. "Talon four is damaged and my gunship has lost shields. My co-pilot ejected, Talon three was above me and… she's dead."

"One mech down." Ashley added.

"I've lost eleven of my troops." Kurin coughed, stumbling out of the gutted IFV. "There's only four of us left."

"Fifteen soldiers down." Delara murmured. "Only seven left."

Just a few seconds of violence had cost them that many lives.

"Damn them!" Liara cursed.

"Gather the survivors." Shepard instructed. "Put them in the tanks, never mind how much space we have left."

The convoy held position as the survivors entered the tanks. It was a tight squeeze in their Mako, Kurin and three survivors were onboard.

One of the soldiers was screaming in agony, Shepard turned to see what was wrong and noticed that the asari had lost her left leg below the knee and her left arm.

Liara left the turret to see if she could help, Javik took over.

Shepard led the convoy onwards, trying to block out the screams of the wounded asari.

"Do you have any stims?" Liara shouted over the noise.

Kurin shook her head.

"Medi-gel?"

Again, Kurin shook her head.

"The noise is bad for moral and will attract husks, she is also unable to fight." Javik stated. "It would be easier to put her out of her misery."

Liara scowled at him. Javik had a point, but it was a cruel one.

Shepard shook his head. "Garrus, take over." He instructed. "Kurin, take the co-driver's seat."

He stood up, allowed Kurin to limp past him, and knelt down next to the wounded asari.

She looked young, although it was difficult to tell with asari, but there was something in her eyes that made her seem young. She'd stopped screaming and was whimpering, tears streaming down her face.

The lost limbs weren't her only wounds, they'd been cauterised by the heat of the beam. There was shrapnel in her abdomen and arms. Her breathing was ragged and there was blood on her lips, she had a chest wound too, maybe a punctured lung.

Shepard could tell that she wasn't going to survive for much longer.

He clasped her hand, hoping that it would calm her down.

"Please…" She rasped. "I don't want to…"

"Shh, it's alright." Shepard tried to soothe her. "I'm John." He rarely used his first name, but these were the asari's last moments, it felt unkind to just use his rank or surname.

"Tesha." She coughed. "Can you help me?"

"Yes." For some reason, this was even harder than leaving Earth. "We'll try."

Liara rummaged around in the Mako's equipment hatch and found a small med-pack. She shook her head and held up a couple of bandages and a painkiller. Tesha only needed one of those items.

The grip on Shepard's hand become tighter. "If I die," Tesha sobbed, "please tell my bondmate, Lily…" she was struggling to breathe now. "Tell her I love her."

Shepard struggled not to show how upsetting this was. "I will." He promised.

"Here." Liara injected the painkiller. "That should help with the pain."

Tesha took in a few more laboured breaths, coughing up more blood.

She tried to reach into a pocket, Liara helped her and pulled out a small photo, a young woman standing with Tesha on the Citadel.

Tesha smiled at the photo and closed her eyes. Her grip on Shepard's hand weakened.

Her breathing stopped.

Liara lowered her head, she began to cry. Shepard put his arm around her shoulders as she wept.

Garrus looked round with a sympathetic glance, Kurin was shaking her head and cursing the Reapers under her breath.

"Shepard?" Delara radioed. "Are you there?"

"I'm here." Shepard murmured.

"We're nearing outpost Ikeri." She told him. "Everything alright over there?"

"Private Tesha Aemis is dead." Kurin answered sadly.

* * *

><p>The convoy arrived at outpost Ikeri, it was in a bad way, worse than they had thought. There were only thirty one soldiers left with no commanding officers. They'd lost five of their seven tanks and all of their mechs had been destroyed.<p>

Delara took charge of the outpost, rallying the soldiers and assigning them to defensive positions.

Shepard took Garrus, and Liara with him, he tasked the others with evacuating the wounded. Space didn't matter, the wounded were leaving Thessia via the Normandy. With the asari fleet retreating, it was their only hope.

"Shepard." Kurin called as they left. "May the Goddess be with you."

Shepard nodded, just hoping that they managed to survive.

Holding the outpost would be a death sentence for many of them. Hopefully Ashley and the others would be able to evacuate them.

They climbed up to the Temple entrance. There was military grade shielding around the Temple, that was odd for a start.

"So, how do we get in?" Garrus asked.

"Let me." Liara was very quiet, either upset or angry, probably both. She tried out a few codes on a panel until the shields shut down to allow them inside.

The Temple had several relics on display, at the end was a large statue of the Goddess Athame. They moved cautiously, trying to spot anything that looked Prothean.

"This statue's impressive." Garrus commented, perhaps he was trying to lighten the mood.

"It's the Goddess Athame." Liara explained. "Her appearance has changed over the centuries. They say she…"

Her voice seemed to become dull and quiet as Shepard stood in front of the statue. There was a low humming sound filling his ears and strange words.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked, the words snapped him out of the trance.

"There's a Prothean beacon here." Shepard realised.

"What?" Liara gasped. "How is that possible? How do you know?"

"It's not something you forget." Shepard muttered, looking at a pedestal at the foot of the statue. There was a narrow gap running through the top.

Shepard activated his omni-blade and prised it open, revealing a console underneath. He pressed a few buttons. The statue shuddered, opening up to reveal the beacon inside.

A small green globe appeared from within and floated out. It spoke in Prothean for a moment, then changed its language.

"Analysis complete." It announced. "Sentient species discovered; human, asari, turian." It paused. "Alert: this cycle has reached its extinction terminus, returning to standby mode."

"Wait!" Garrus cried. "Tell us how to stop them."

"We found your data on Mars, your code." Shepard added.

The globe paused, a VI he guessed, like Victory. "You have found the signal?"

"Signal?" Liara asked.

"At the end of our cycle, we grounded a Reaper on another planet with Mass Effect fields." The VI explained. "We were able to study it, find a weakness. This data was transmitted to the planet you call Mars. Our scientists encrypted it and tried to refine it."

"What does it do?" Shepard asked.

"Unknown." The VI answered.

"What the hell do you mean _unknown_?" Shepard snapped.

"We were unable to test it, nor were we able to find a suitable delivery system."

"Delivery system?" Garrus repeated. "Signal, captured Reapers? Is this a solution or a pipe dream?"

"I know who posses the information you require." The VI continued. "It is known as Vendetta, located here." The VI showed them a map of some kind. Shepard copied it onto his omni-tool. "I will give you the codes you require to enter the facility." The VI paused again. "Alert: indoctrinated forces detected." It declared. "Entered standby mode."

The VI retreated back into the beacon.

Shepard turned to the entrance. Someone was walking into the Temple.

"You!" He growled, pulling out his pistol. Liara and Garrus pulled out their weapons and took aim.

"Don't shoot the messenger, Shepard." Kai Leng smirked. "Someone wants to talk."

He produced a holo-drone and let it float towards Shepard.

The device activated, showing the Illusive Man. Liara and Garrus kept their weapons trained on Leng.

"Commander Shepard." The Illusive Man smiled. "I see you've found the secret of this Temple."

"Cut to the chase." Shepard muttered.

"I want that VI, the data could be invaluable to humanity."

"To the Reapers, you mean."

"Please, Shepard." The Illusive Man lit a cigarette. "It's fascinating, isn't it? All races of the galaxy are meant to share such relics, yet the asari kept this beacon for themselves." He continued to smile, Shepard continued to think of punching him. "I wonder what Doctor T'Soni would hide from you?"

"You can't paint everyone with the same brush."

The Illusive Man laughed. "Yet you see Cerberus as evil." He chuckled. "You think that the Reapers should be destroyed. I think that they should be controlled for humanity."

"Don't you think that you're fighting for the wrong side?" Shepard demanded. "We should be fighting the Reapers, not each other!"

"You're missing the point, again." The Illusive Man exhaled another lungful of smoke. "I don't want the Reapers destroyed. You think I'm fighting for them? I'm fighting for humanity."

"It isn't about that anymore!" Shepard hissed, gesturing at the view outside the Temple of Athame. "Look at that, Thessia is burning and so is Earth, and here we are fighting each other when we have a common foe killing all life in the galaxy!"

"Really? Then why does life continue?" The Illusive Man asked. "You presume too much, if the Reaper wanted all life to end, then they would have ended it 50,000 years ago, perhaps 50,000 years before that."

Shepard fumed. "You've made your decision." He growled. "I won't waste my breath."

The Illusive Man shrugged, the holo-drone returned to Kai Leng's hand.

"Leng, the Commander has something I want." He stated. "Relieve him of it."

"Understood." Leng drew his sword.

He charged forwards, spinning the blade.

Garrus swore and used his rifle to block the sword. Leng kicked him away and spun round, knocking the gun out of Liara's hands.

Shepard activated his omni-blade and charged, swinging for Leng's head.

Leng ducked and stabbed Shepard in the stomach.

"SHEPARD!"Liara screamed.

Shepard fell back, Leng planted his foot on his chest to hold him down.

Liara reached for her weapon, but froze as a pair of Phantoms appeared, both of them held omni-blades ready to kill Garrus and Liara.

"Go on then, Shepard." Leng sneered. "Choose. Like you did on Virmire, choose who lives, and who dies."

Shepard remembered. He didn't want to.

That choice, two lives in his hands. It hadn't been his right, it had just happened.

"Forget about me," Garrus snapped, "save Liara!"

"No, don't sacrifice him for me!" Liara objected.

"You must have felt like a god." Leng hissed. "Who will you save, your friend, or your lover?"

Shepard tried to struggle, but Leng was too strong.

"I think you need motivation." Leng muttered. "Hmm." He half turned his head. "Hurt her."

The Phantom shoved Liara onto the floor and slashed her with his omni-blade, cutting a burning line into her back.

Shepard struggled even more, but Leng just held him down.

"You bastard!" Garrus bellowed. "You fucking bastard!"

"See what it's like when someone else has the power?" Leng cackled.

"If you want me to choose," Shepard snarled, "then kill _me_!"

"No!" Liara cried.

"Do it!" Shepard goaded. "Kill me!"

Leng considered, spinning his sword idly. "I still want you choose."

Shepard shook his head. "Fine," he sighed. "Liara, I hope your Goddess can forgive me." He murmured. Leng grinned.

"Go on then, Shepard." He smirked. "Say it."

"Talon one, take them out!"

Leng turned to see the gunship hovering near the entrance. He stared as it turned towards the Temple, taking aim.

"Talon one, firing!" The pilot announced. Missiles streaked towards them, blowing the statue and relics to pieces

Leng ran towards the beacon, downloading the VI into his omni-tool.

The two Phantoms were confused for a moment, that cost them their lives. Talon one cut them in half with a swath of bullets. Leng activated his cloak and vanished.

Talon one ceased fire. "Shepard, the outpost was overrun." The pilot told him. "Everyone's running but I came back here."

Garrus and Liara helped Shepard onto his feet, the gunship turned round and lowered its ramp. Garrus helped Shepard inside.

The pilot half turned to make sure that they were onboard before she closed the ramp. "They retreated," she added, "I lost Talon four." The gunship gained altitude as she piloted them away from the Temple. "I couldn't leave you behind."

"Why not?" Shepard asked.

The pilot lowered her head for a moment. "I never said goodbye to my daughter." She answered. "But you comforted Tesha before she died." She checked the radio, all of the reports were similar.

"Fall back, retreat!"

"We've taken heavy casualties, they're… Oh no! There's a Reaper coming!"

"Oh Goddess, no! I don't want to be turned into them!"

"To all forces and civilians, Thessia has fallen." The last one announced. "Run. Run for your lives."

The gunship left the burning world behind, another Earth, another Palaven, Thessia had fallen.

He'd failed them.

Shepard looked across at Liara, who was staring down at the infernos below, her burning homeworld.

He'd failed her too.

* * *

><p><em><strong>For easy reference, the quarian husks are called "Forsaken", the new krogan are called "Demons", elcor husks are now called "Conquerors" and the Raloi husks are called "Terrors". <strong>_

_**As for the Makos, I like them and I decided that they'd be better for a war zone. I thought that Thessia should have been a longer mission, given that it's under attack by Reapers, it would have made a good vehicle/tank section.**_

_**I know that the Prothean VI on Thessia is called Vendetta, but I have other plans for that name.**_

_**This has been one of the hardest chapters for me to write, I just hope the others are easier.**_


	19. Gifts and Curses

_**Prepare yourselves for a shock…**_

_**The answers are coming…**_

_**(Warning: this is mostly dialogue, but I hope that it makes sense.)**_

_**REVIEWS NEEDED FOR THIS CHAPTER!**_

* * *

><p>The Normandy was on its way to the Citadel, carrying the few survivors they had rescued. Major Delara and most of her troops hadn't made it. Lieutenant Kurin, Talon one, two soldiers and a few civilians were the only ones who had made it.<p>

More had escaped before the Reapers had arrived, like humanity, there was hope for the asari. But they had no home now, they were refugees now.

Shepard was stuck in the med-bay, being patched up.

Despite everything, Liara refused to leave his side. Either she had forgiven him, or she would have felt guilty for leaving him, maybe both.

"No major damage." Doctor Chakwas surmised. "You should be back in action after a few days. You were lucky, that Lieutenant Kurin will be out of the war for months."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Shepard muttered.

"By the way, there's a message in the com room." She added unhelpfully.

"I'll answer it." Liara murmured.

Shepard hated being out of action, he didn't really want to talk about Thessia, Earth or Palaven either.

Liara hesitated before turning the holographic projector on, she wondered who would be baying for Shepard's blood in a few moments.

It was the asari Councillor, the transmission was a little garbled, EDI had to clear the signal up.

"Where's Commander Shepard?" The Councillor asked.

"He was wounded." Liara answered.

"I heard that Thessia was attacked," the Councillor continued, "what happened?"

Liara looked down at her feet, not knowing how to answer. "Thessia…" She swallowed. "Thessia is gone."

"The Reapers?"

"Yes." Liara felt angry all of a sudden. "You knew what was in the Temple of Athame, why didn't you tell us?"

"It was top secret for a reason, Doctor T'Soni."

"If you'd told us sooner, we could have saved them!" Liara snapped.

"Doctor T'Soni, please try to stay calm…"

"Calm?" Liara retorted. "I just watched my home burn! I watched my people die!"

The hologram shut down, the Councillor had cut the link.

Liara fumed, she'd never been this angry or upset before. This damn war was taking everything away.

"Your home may be gone." A voice said. "But as long as your people live, then there is hope for you."

Liara half turned her head. "I thought you didn't care, Javik."

"I was merely speaking my mind during the battle." Javik explained. "War is all I have ever known, I was born as my people died."

Liara understood him now, he'd been a warrior from the start and he'd never seen peace.

She hoped that he lived to see it one day.

"Do you think that we can win, Javik?"

"I would have doubted anyone else." Javik answered. "But Shepard, you and the rest of these people, I think that there is hope. That is strength."

"Thank you, Javik."

"Stay strong, Liara."

* * *

><p>The Normandy arrived at the Citadel, the refugees dispersed into the docking bays and the makeshift refugee camps. The soldiers were taken to the hospital.<p>

Only one refugee remained stubbornly onboard, the pilot of Talon one, Teriss Aemis.

The marines gave up trying to evict her and left the matter to Shepard, who decided to let her stay, pointing out that a gunship would be useful to the Normandy crew.

The hardest part was finding Tesha's bondmate and telling her what had happened.

They had to stay for a few days, until Shepard was deemed ready for action again.

The trouble was, they didn't know where to go. The Prothean VI had given them a map, but it was a map showed the geography of a planet, not its location.

Shepard gave the map to EDI, to see if she could find out what it was showing.

He still found it hard to believe that Liara was not angry with him, she'd been depressed, but had started to recover.

If anything, the loss they had shared had brought them closer together.

It didn't take EDI much longer to find what they were looking for either.

"I told you Commander," Joker grinned, "she'd find it."

"I have found a match." EDI displayed the terrain of a planet. It looked like an asteroid had crashed into it. "This is the planet Dis."

"Dis?" Tali echoed. "Isn't that where they found an ancient starship?"

"They called it the Leviathan of Dis." Garrus added. "It vanished some time ago after a batarian dreadnaught appeared in the system." He paused. "EDI, didn't some salarians capture footage of this ship?"

"They did." EDI confirmed. "I hacked into the salarian files and found this." She showed them grainy images, pictures of blackened metal. Out of all the images, one was recognisable, what looked like a large metal finger made of blue metal.

"My God!" Ashley breathed. "It was a Reaper!"

"Well, we know where it is now." Garrus shrugged.

"Yes." Shepard agreed. "Joker, we're going to Khar'shan."

"Not that I want to ruin our little revelation, but the batarians kind of hate us." Joker objected. "And Khar'shan is under attack by Reapers."

"Joker, we have to end this war." Shepard told him firmly. "We're going to end it."

"Alright then." Joker surrendered. "Just don't get shot."

"Wait, Shepard!" Shepard turned to see James run up. "You've got to see this."

* * *

><p>James turned on the computer and wound something back. The galactic chart for the Dholen system.<p>

"Watch this carefully." James instructed. "You remember that something was wrong with the sun?"

"Yeah." Shepard nodded.

James pointed at the red globe.

As Shepard watched, it pulsed suddenly then began to expand wildly, consuming the planets in the system. It had just become a red giant.

"Before you say that's natural, keep watching." James added.

The sun then shrank back to its normal size. Then it began to shrink down into a smaller red and black ball.

Shepard stared as something huge appeared, it looked like a wide disc with long fingers pointing down. Beams shot out from the fingers and ripped the sun apart, sucking it into the centre of the disc.

"I think we know who that belongs to." James pointed at something moving next to it.

Shepard could just about see a fleet of Reapers, tiny on comparison, moving next to it.

"It's a Reaper device." He murmured.

"That blows up and harvests suns." James added. "We're really screwed."

"Not if we kill them first." Shepard disagreed.

* * *

><p>The Normandy arrived in Kite's Nest, keeping its distance from Khar'shan and the small Reaper fleet in orbit. The Reapers had pretty much decimated Khar'shan, the bulk of their forces had moved on.<p>

Joker could slip past them with the stealth drives, but getting off the planet was going to be difficult.

Saving it would be impossible.

"Commander, EDI has something you want to hear." Joker called. "Or not."

Shepard walked over to the nearest projection unit. "What is it, EDI?"

"I have a theory about what you and Lieutenant Vega saw." She explained. "The Reapers were harvesting the sun in the Dholen system." Shepard nodded so she continued. "Reapers are immensely powerful, but they need energy to avoid dying, they are machines."

"So they harvest suns for energy." Shepard guessed.

"Correct."

"But how do they avoid wiping out all life?" Shepard wondered aloud.

"Perhaps they create new suns using the debris from the a destroyed star, much like the Big Bang." EDI theorised. "That device you saw has been recorded in Prothean data, Javik showed me. It appears at the end of each cycle, when the Reapers begin their invasion."

"Commander," Joker called, "we're approaching Khar'shan, the batarian resistance is finding us a place to drop the Mako."

"Do as they say." Shepard ordered. "We're going to need their help."

* * *

><p>Shepard clambered into the Mako, followed by Liara, Garrus, Grunt and James. Teriss would be providing air support with her gunship, still going by the call-sign of Talon.<p>

The Normandy was doing an old fashioned drop, except they had less than one hundred metres and even rougher terrain. Namely the destroyed capital city.

The batarians were barely holding, it was just the will to survive that was keeping them going, the rest had fled.

The Mako plummeted from the drop bay, followed by Talon. The Mako landed on the shattered road and bumped violently. Talon's descent was more graceful, all she had to do was activate her thrusters and fly in.

"Shepard here, we've landed." He reported. "Where's the resistance?"

"Not far, follow the street." Joker answered. "And the gunfire."

Shepard drove the Mako forwards, grateful for the tall buildings that kept them hidden from the Reapers.

Khar'shan was grey now, lifeless. The sky was dark and the fields were barren. Ash was floating down from the empty horizon.

"You know," James sighed, "I actually feel sorry for the bastards."

"No-one deserves this." Liara agreed.

The Mako rumbled forwards, Talon followed at low altitude.

Shepard could see a few Reapers in the city, but only a few, they'd moved on.

"There." Liara pointed. Shepard saw a batarian soldier waving them over to a heavily damaged underground parking lot. Shepard steered the Mako inside.

Talon was shown another way inside, the batarians had turned the place into a base and that included landing pads for the few gunships they had left.

The batarians sealed the doors behind them, making sure that the Reapers were not following them.

As soon as Shepard stopped the Mako, batarian soldiers approached with their weapons drawn.

"Exit the vehicle with your hands up." One of them ordered. "If you do not comply, we will open fire."

Shepard opened the hatch and stepped out with his hands up, the others followed his example.

"Scan 'em." The batarian barked, another one checked each of them with his omni-tool and nodded. "Alright then, can't say that I expected _humans _to come." The batarian officer muttered. "Come with me, I'll take you to see our leader."

He led them down through the parking lots and garages, into an office they were using as a command centre.

"We've got reinforcements, sir." The officer announced. "One gunship, a tank, turian, asari and two humans believe it or not."

The leader turned and glared at Shepard. "Look who it is."

"You again?" Shepard resisted the urge to reach for his pistol.

"Been a long time since then, Shepard."

"Why are you here, Balak?" Shepard demanded. "You were going to slam an asteroid into Terra Nova, now you're leading the resistance?"

"I'm the highest ranking officer left in the Hegemony." Balak said bitterly. "Hell, I'm the _only _high ranking officer left in the Hegemony." He sighed. "Look, Shepard. I don't care about Terra Nova anymore, I just want to save my people here."

Shepard relented. "I can understand that." He accepted. "Earth, Palaven and Thessia are suffering, but Khar'shan is has lost a lot."

"Damn right it has." Balak agreed. "Now, what do you want?"

"We're looking for the Leviathan of Dis." Shepard answered.

"That thing?" Balak was surprised. "Huh, I thought you'd come for warships or tanks. Well, I've got some bad news for you, Commander." He folded his arms. "There's a Reaper parked right over that facility."

"We've killed one before." Garrus shrugged. "We'll just call the Normandy in."

"No, you don't get it." Balak shook his head. "We've heard about Rannoch, we've beaten Destroyers here too." He brought up an image on the holographic map. "It's one of the bigger Reapers."

"That's insane!" James breathed. "Impossible, unless someone tipped them off."

"The Illusive Man." Liara realised. "He told them, he has that VI, how else would they know?" She shook her head. "Damn him!" She hissed.

"We're screwed." James added.

"Yes, I'm afraid that unless you've got a dreadnaught we're getting nowhere near that place." Balak said. "I'm sorry, Commander. Never thought I'd say that."

Shepard sighed and considered his options. It looked like they were stuck, screwed as James so eloquently put it.

They needed nukes or an army of Thresher Maws or a fleet or a…

A dreadnaught.

"EDI." Shepard radioed. "Call Legion, we need the geth fleet. Tell him to bring the dreadnaught."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that this will work?" Balak asked again.<p>

"It's our only chance." Shepard assured him. "The geth fleet is large and powerful, they can overwhelm the small Reaper fleet guarding the planet. Their dreadnaught has the firepower we need to tip the bate in out favour."

"I hope you're right." Balak muttered. "I'll rally my men."

"James, Grunt, I need you two to keep the entrance to the facility secure. Use the Mako if you have to." Shepard instructed. "Teriss, take out anything that you can see."

"No problem we can ruin their entire day." Teriss smirked.

"Legion will accompany my squad into the bunker, along with some geth." Shepard continued. "Geth forces will assist the batarian resistance in destroying Reaper forces. Any questions?"

Grunt put his hand up.

"Yes, Grunt?"

"Can I eat that pyjak?" He pointed at the small primate squatting in a crate.

"If you must." Shepard rolled his eyes.

"Don't want to go into battle hungry." Grunt chuckled.

* * *

><p>James drove the Mako onto the ridge, stopping as soon as he saw the Reaper.<p>

It was stood over the facility, dwarfing just about everything. Shepard could also see Reaper troops milling around the facility.

The facility itself was mostly underground, very deep underground, to contain the captured Reaper.

"Here's a good question," Garrus adjusted his rifle scope, "if there is a Reaper down there, why haven't they released it?"

"Maybe they have." James suggested.

"So why is a Reaper standing guard?" Garrus persisted. "Whatever's down there, it's important and they want us nowhere near it."

"Why not destroy it then?" James asked.

"Maybe they can't." Liara shrugged. "Or it's a trap for us, the Illusive Man knows what we know and so do the Reapers."

"That sounds logical." Shepard agreed. "But they won't be expecting the geth fleet."

The radio crackled. "Balak here, my men are in position." He told them. "Waiting for the geth to arrive."

They sat in silence, waiting for any sign of the geth fleet and watching the Reaper.

It was a very tense silence.

"I-spy, anyone?" James asked.

"No." Was the collective response.

They continued to wait in silence.

The radio crackled. "Shepard Commander, this is Legion." The geth informed them. "Our fleet has arrived and is prepared to engage Old Machine forces."

"Take them out." Shepard ordered.

"Order received." Legion acknowledged. "Opening fire."

Above Khar'shan, the geth fleet snuck in behind the Reaper ships and opened fire. The Reapers were unprepared, many of them fell before they could ready weapons.

The geth dreadnaught moved in, its firepower was lethal enough to take out Reapers in moments.

Geth dropships began to head for the surface as the dreadnaught locked its weapons onto the Reaper below and opened fire.

"Here they come!" Garrus whooped. "Never thought I'd be so glad to see geth."

One of the dropships deposited a geth hovercraft next to their Mako.

"Shepard Commander." Legion was in the hovercraft. "The assault is underway, the Old Machines are taking losses."

"We're going to attack the facility." Shepard told him. "You ready?""I am ready." Legion confirmed.

"Commence the attack." Shepard radioed to all forces.

As they charged towards the facility, the bombardment from the geth dreadnaught hit the Reaper, blasting off its limbs and shattering its armour.

The Reaper howled as it fell, crashing into the hill behind the facility.

"The Reaper's down." Garrus relayed. "Move in and mop up the husks."

"Got it." Balak responded.

The vehicles moved in, shooting any husks that got in their way.

"Shepard, there's something new ahead." James warned.

Shepard took a look through the screen. It looked like a much smaller version of a destroyer, slightly bigger than a krogan. It had a beam weapon like most Reapers.

Its eyes changed from blue to yellow. Shepard heard the radio pick up the frequency.

"Assuming direct control." A deep voice announced.

"Damn," Garrus muttered, "so Harbinger's got his own personal drones."

The drone clanked towards them, then fell back as a pair of missiles slammed into it. Talon flew over, opening fire on the husks below.

"Glad someone's on the ball." James muttered. "Grunt, were you aiming at that drone?"

"Turret needs some oil." Grunt retorted.

* * *

><p>The Mako stopped in front the facility. Balak and Legion were waiting for them.<p>

"You'll need my codes to get in." Balak explained. He tapped the first code into the wall panel, opening the heavy alloy doors.

The squad entered the dark facility. Power had been cut, no lights were on, the place was running off emergency power.

Shepard turned on his flashlight and took the lead. The place was eerily quiet, although they could hear the thumps from distant explosions.

"What exactly happened to this place?" Garrus murmured. "Were the personnel killed or indoctrinated?"

"This was a top secret facility, it sealed as soon as the Reapers arrived." Balak explained. "The scientists would have been trapped inside, with the Reaper guarding the place, we weren't able to come and rescue them."

"We're taking a bit of a risk here." Liara added. "If the Reaper is active…"

"I am not detecting any signals that match Reaper indoctrination." Legion told her.

"Maybe The Reaper's systems were likely damaged or taken offline by the Protheans that captured it." Garrus guessed.

"Quiet." Shepard whispered, he still had a bad feeling about this place.

All that was at the end of the hallway was a lift, Balak entered the code and the lift descended, for what felt like hours.

"How far down does this go?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know." Balak muttered. "A very long way."

The lift eventually stopped, the radios crackled and died.

"We've lost contact with the surface." Shepard grimaced. "I hope they can manage without us."

He took a step forwards and felt something soft under his boot. He shone the flashlight down.

The batarian had been dead for weeks, he'd probably died from dehydration.

"Not a good way to die." Balak muttered.

"Is there such a thing?" Liara wondered aloud.

They moved on, wanting to escape the dark hellhole they had ended up in. For some reason, Shepard felt like a rat in a lion's den.

They emerged into a large chamber, with the darkness, it was impossible to see how big it was.

"Organics." A metallic voice boomed, a Reaper's voice.

A red glow filled the room, illuminating the front of the Reaper suspended above the pit. It was trapped behind kinetic barriers and Mass Effect fields.

It was one of the larger Reaper types, keep above a fissure large enough to contain it.

The whole setup was impossible.

"Am I to be tested? Killed? Questioned?" The Reaper demanded.

"Questioned." Shepard answered. "What are you?"

The Reaper didn't answer immediately. "So long since I said my name." It murmured. "Vendetta, they called me Vendetta."

"They?" Shepard inquired. "Your kind?"

"The Protheans called me Vendetta." The Reaper replied. "I do not remember what I was called before. They called me Vendetta because I was zealous."

"Why haven't the Reapers rescued you?" Garrus asked.

"I am no longer useful to them." Vendetta replied. "I am a traitor. But not by my own will. The Protheans broke me."

"Forgive me if I don't feel much sympathy." Balak muttered.

"What did the Protheans do to you?" Shepard continued with the questioning.

"They captured me, experimented on me." Vendetta responded. "They disabled my weapons, my indoctrination. It fascinated them." The Reaper paused. "I care no longer, mortal. If you must know, then you will know."

"Please," Shepard asked, "tell me."

"The Protheans studied my mind, trying to find weaknesses." Vendetta answered. "In the end, they found one. We are machines, but we have the minds of organics. Upon our ascension, we combined those many minds with Mass Effect fields, dark energy and these machine bodies. That is how we learnt to indoctrinate."

"Ascension?" Liara repeated uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"I do not know who we were." The Reaper answered. "But we were flesh like you, but we were weak, fragile, mortal. We decided to upgrade the flesh, turn it into metal. We would become gods to rule over the galaxy and shape it how we saw fit. But once we ascended, we saw the organics and the chaos we created. We wiped them out, but spared some so that we could kill them again, harvest them to make new Reapers."

"What about the suns?" Shepard asked. "We saw something blow up and harvest a sun."

"The Cradle." The Reaper sounded strained, as if it was in pain. "I was reborn there. Every cycle, we would bring forth the Cradle and create new Reapers, fuelled by stars and organics." It explained. "We would reshape the galaxy each time, every new species was a challenge, a new game."

"Game? Challenge?" Garrus echoed. "Are you saying that you wipe out people for _fun_?"

The Reaper paused. "Yes." It replied. "Of all the things, it was… fun. We had power, the god-like power to create and destroy as we saw fit. We are order, you are chaos, we are perfection, you are vermin."

"What about the signal?" Shepard asked.

"The signal…" Vendetta spoke the words as if they scolded it. "They found the weakness. It wasn't a weapon, or a ship, it was a simple code. Instructions they found in my mind. We are almost living beings, mortal, that is how we are sentient and immortal." Vendetta told them. "But the Protheans found a way to flaw this synthesis, a signal derived from our most insidious weapon."

"Indoctrination." Shepard guessed.

"They planned to use it as a signal, one that could be transmitted through the Mass Relays, through all Reaper technology." Vendetta continued. "It was tested on me. It broke my will, which is why I am telling you everything. They could break the will and sanity of every single Reaper in the galaxy within moments." Vendetta paused again. "But they failed, they were wiped out. They could not find a way to broadcast the signal over every star system in time."

"So the Protheans learnt how to turn indoctrination on the Reapers?" Liara breathed. "Their greatest weapon would have become their curse."

"If it even works." Garrus muttered.

"Vendetta, I was told to find a cipher." Shepard told the Reaper. "Where can I find it?"

The Reaper was silent, as if it was thinking. "There was a Prothean beacon on Dis." Vendetta answered. "I do not know what became of it."

"Balak," Shepard turned to the batarian, "did your people find a beacon?"

"Yeah, they gave to the Council." Balak said. "To placate them, because we took this Reaper."

"So where is it?" Garrus asked.

"The Citadel vaults I guess." Balak shrugged.

"Human," Vendetta called, it sound like it was pleading. "Before you leave, there is only one thing I want. End my suffering."

"You want to die?" Shepard frowned.

"My kin will never accept me, I am too weak to escape." Vendetta stated. "I just want to die, eternity is a price that I no longer want to pay for."

"We could activate the self destruct in this base." Balak suggested. "I don't want to risk it indoctrinating people anyway."

"Do it." Shepard nodded.

Vendetta regarded Shepard for a few moments before shutting down its eyes. "Perhaps mortals are not as flawed as we thought." It mused.

Balak activated the self destruct and they ran back to the lift, fleeing the facility before it exploded.

When they reached the surface, they were greeted by the broken corpses of Reapers and fragments of their fleet.

The geth had been victorious. The Reapers could be beaten.

Now they had a way to defeat every single Reaper in the galaxy, provided they could find the second Cipher.

"Commander." Balak paused. "I'm starting to wish I'd never gone near Terra Nova." He muttered. "My soldiers are yours, our ships too."

"Just like that?" Garrus folded his arms.

"I've seen too much death, more because of these Reapers." Balak told him. "I don't care if we have to side with our enemies, it's worth it if we can guarantee a future, for all of us."

"I understand." Shepard nodded. "Gather your people, Balak. We'll fight with you when the time comes."

As they rode the shuttle back to the Normandy, Shepard was left with doubts, he was going to break into the Citadel vaults. He doubted that the Council would let him in, even if he stressed the fate of the galaxy or asked nicely.

"EDI, I need you to run a trace." He radioed.

"Who for?" EDI requested.

"I need a master thief." Shepard replied. "Find Kasumi Goto."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yes, I know that Javik and Liara are meant to argue, but people want me to move away from the script anyway. Besides, I really can't see Javik as completely cold hearted. <strong>_

_**As for Teriss, I think a gunship would be useful to the Normandy.**_

_**Some parts of the script may remain the same, I did**__**like some parts of it.**_

_**The Harbinger drones are called Messengers. (Harbingers are messengers of death) It's about time Harbinger started to irritate Shepard and his allies.**_

_**In terms of estimates, I was wrong, there are only 5/6 chapters left to go!**_

_**However, I am back at college on the 16**__**th**__**, so work will be slow.**_

_**I hope you like my anti-Crucible plans. It seemed like a good idea at the time and very ironic.**_

_**Reviews for this chapter would be greatly appreciated, I'd like to know if this idea is any good.**_


	20. Stealing glory

_**Not long now, my plan is apparently sound so I'm pressing on. College still bores me to death so I'm writing this to stay sane.**_

_**I've prioritised this, meaning that I'm using all my free time to write and finish this since I'm so close to finishing. Don't worry, I enjoy writing.**_

_**I've always wanted to do a chapter like this one too.**_

_**My thanks to MB18932 for support, be sure to check out "And we shall overcome"**_

* * *

><p><em>The trees were aflame, fire rained from the black skies. <em>

_Why couldn't he do this? _

"_Shepard," Harbinger growled, "your end is at hand."_

"_Shepard." The Illusive Man whispered. "Humanity is all that matters, leave her."_

"_Shepard." Anderson sounded pained. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss."_

_He ran again, he had to find some way, some way to end this nightmare. _

_He could hear the voices of the dead repeating their last moments, tormenting him. _

"_You can't help me." The child's sad voice._

"_If I die," Tesha sobbed, "please tell my bondmate, Lily… Tell her I love her."_

"_Shepard," Kirrahe rasped, "pleasure to work with you again." _

_He continued to sprint through the forest, now more images were showing themselves to him. _

_He saw Garrus holding out against a swarm of husks, a Demon charged and lopped the turian's head off with its blade. _

_Ashley threw down her empty assault rifle and pulled out her pistol, opening fire on a Conqueror. The Conqueror strafed her position with its machine gun, blasting her arm off and riddling her with slugs. _

_Shepard heard a bone chilling scream and looked round to see a pair of Banshees descend on Tali and rip her apart. _

_He could hear Grunt roaring, he saw the krogan firing at a group of Ravagers, he didn't notice the Devils come up behind him until they sank their blades into his head. _

_Javik was taking on a horde of husks, but the Collectors came and opened fire, the Prothean fell to the ground and lay in a pool of blood._

_James yelled as he unloaded the Revenant's thermal clip into a swarm of husks, he pulled out his shotgun and blew a Devil in half. A Stinger shot up and wrapped its tentacles around him, the marine writhed and screamed as the electricity fried him._

"_Shepard!" He froze again, hearing Liara cry. "Please don't…"_

"_Liara!" Shepard yelled desperately. He ran again, he had to find her!_

_The boy was running too, ahead of him, as the Reapers descended on the forest. _

"_Shepard," Garrus was shouting, "don't give up, don't give in!"_

_Why? Why shouldn't he?_

_What did have left to live for? _

"_The end has come." Harbinger snarled. "Watch as everyone dies."_

"_I know that attachments make people weak." The Illusive Man slithered. "Isn't that how Adam fell to temptation? Because of Eve?" He hissed. "She means less than humanity, our species is all that matters."_

_Perhaps he was right, maybe he needed to be strong to make those hard choices. _

_No! he couldn't abandon his friends! He couldn't abandon Liara!_

_The voice from three years back floated across the burning forest._

"_Then you will die, and your companions." Saren sneered. "Everyone you know and love, everyone you've ever met. Don't you understand? You will all _die_!"_

_He found the boy, he was waiting for Shepard. _

_Shepard reached out again. _

_A figure ran across and wrapped arms around the boy, trying to protect him. _

_Shepard stopped and felt as if someone was ripping his soul apart. "Liara!" He cried._

_The flames began to engulf the two of them as Shepard watched. Liara looked up at him with tearful eyes, her skin blackened and blistered by the flames._

"_Please, John!" She sobbed. "Please don't leave me!"_

* * *

><p>"Shepard?" A voice called.<p>

Shepard cried out and grabbed the nearest item that came to hand, a datapad, and lifted it like a cudgel.

"Shepard, it's me!" Liara grabbed his wrist. Shepard snapped out of his state and dropped the datapad, breathing heavily and sweating.

"Christ!" He gasped. "I nearly…"

"It's alright, Shepard." Liara told him soothingly. "I shouldn't have disturbed you."

"I'm glad you did." Shepard gulped. "That dream… it was horrible!"

"Shepard," she looked concerned, caring as always. "I'm here if you want to talk."

Shepard nodded, wiping the sheen of sweat from his brow.

He needed to talk to someone, who better than Liara.

So he told her about the nightmares.

She listened in silence, taking in everything he said. He went back, to a time and place he'd never told anyone about before.

"I was born and raised in Vancouver. I was a member of a gang called the Reds for fourteen years. I acted as a messenger, then a thief, then an enforcer." He hung his head for a moment. "When I was eighteen…"

"Shepard, if you don't want to…"

"No, it's time I was honest with you." He interrupted. "I murdered someone, just for the money in his wallet."

Liara looked shocked, but she would have found out sooner or later. Whatever happened, it was better to tell someone.

"Then I ran, I joined the Alliance. No-one knew what I had done."

Liara thought for a few moments. "That doesn't make you a monster, Shepard. You held the line on Elysium, you're a hero."

"I only held the line because I had nothing to lose if I died." He admitted. "It wasn't atonement, repentance, playing hero, anything like that."

"Then you stopped Saren and Sovereign." She insisted. "You destroyed the Collector base without losing any of your allies and you're our only hope of winning this war."

Shepard sighed and shook his head. He looked her in the eye. "How can this work, Liara?" He asked. "I was a criminal, I tried to throw my life away during the Blitz, I even killed your mother."

She reached out and stroked his cheek. "Perhaps it was just meant to be." She suggested. "Shepard, I love you for who you are now, not who you were. As for my mother, it wasn't your fault, she was indoctrinated."

"Liara…" he hesitated. "I felt like I was the walking dead, on Elysium, Eden Prime. Until I met you."

"I understand." Liara came closer to him, their foreheads touched. "I felt so alone until you arrived on Therum. I thought I was going to die, alone. But then you came and saved me."

"I think we both saved each other." Shepard murmured.

Liara smiled and kissed him, just a quick peck on the lips, but it thrilled him all the same.

"Commander," EDI called, "we're almost at the Citadel, Kasumi Goto is waiting for you."

Shepard sighed. "Always something." He muttered. "We'd better go, duty calls."

* * *

><p>Kasumi left instructions, specific ones.<p>

She wanted Shepard and Liara to walk through the Presidium commons, that way should could talk to them, Shepard could act as if he was talking to Liara.

She also wanted disguises. That was easy for Garrus, who could just change his face paints, Liara could apply fake tattoos that washed out, Shepard however…

"This thing itches." He griped.

"Stop adjusting it." Liara warned him, wearing casual clothes and fake tattoos.

Garrus was limping behind them with a crutch, pretending to be a war veteran, it was difficult to guess a turian's age. "Credits for a vet?" He wheezed convincingly.

"Shepard," Kasumi's voice spoke into his ear, "at least I think that's you."

"Yeah." Shepard murmured. "A fake beard in this day and age?"

"Relax, Shepard." Kasumi purred. "They don't scan for simple disguises anymore."

"I hope not." Shepard mumbled. "The first kid to tug the beard spoils your plan."

They strolled along the commons, arm in arm, Garrus limped along behind them.

"I took a missile to the face." He wheezed. "I need credits to look beautiful again."

Kasumi gave them directions that led into an apartment. Only when they were inside did she reveal herself.

"Shepard, I hear you've been busy." She smiled. "You can lose the disguises now."

Shepard tugged the fake beard off, wincing. Liara and Garrus' process of returning to normal was less painful.

"So then, what do you me need for?" Kasumi asked.

"A heist." Shepard stated.

"Easy."

"Here," Shepard continued, "in the Citadel vaults."

Kasumi considered. "A little harder."

"I called the Council before coming here." Shepard explained. "They didn't want me anywhere near the vaults."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Kasumi smirked. "Wherever you go, trouble follows." She activated her omni-tool and projected a map. "Many thieves would kill for this." She added. "This isn't the vault, no maps have been made for it, but this one does show ways in." A few icons flashed, one in the Council chambers, one in C-Sec, one in the lake and one in a ventilation shaft.

"All we have to do is decide who does what and how." Kasumi said brilliantly.

"Well, the lake's out for me." Garrus muttered.

"We'll need some tech skills, we're going to need Tali." Liara added.

"I recommend a distraction in C-Sec." Kasumi told them.

They carried on planning for an hour, until they had a viable plan, they hoped.

* * *

><p>They'd all gone for different outfits, apart from Kasumi who just vanished. Garrus was acting as a janitor in the Council chambers, adjusting the sunglasses more than mopping the floor.<p>

"This is hardly fair, I nearly drowned on Kahje and now you want me to drown on the Citadel." Liara was griping.

"You'll answer my question." Ashley snickered.

"What question?"

"Whether anyone's ever drowned in that lake."

"Shut up." Liara grimaced, hiding her face behind a datapad.

"Turians don't swim, so I couldn't do it." Garrus added unhelpfully. "You also forgot about the importance of the _not it _and _shotgun _rules."

Shepard hung about in C-Sec, wearing a uniform he'd borrowed from Bailey. The C-Sec commander was willing to turn a blind eye, but couldn't do much more. Shepard kept the cap on too, just in case.

Kasumi was already in the vents, Ashley was going to cause a distraction that would allow Liara to slip away. Garrus was going to smuggle Tali inside.

Shepard got Grunt, that could go badly wrong.

The krogan marched in at the agreed time however, looking cross.

He stomped up to the desk with an pedantic volus waiting.

"Can I help you." The volus asked.

"Yeah," Grunt growled, "I hear you got turians here."

"C-Sec employs turians as officers." The volus said.

"I was looking for target practice."

Upon those words, a few officers fled to find weapons, the others trained their guns on the krogan.

Shepard moved out of sight and towards the vent Kasumi had told him about. Whilst Grunt began his own kind of diplomacy, he climbed into the vent.

"Whoa!" James ran in. "He's fine, he's just drunk." James told them. "I'll just help to sober him up." He took Grunt's meaty arm and led him away. "You know what you need? A takeaway and a cold shower."

"Take me anywhere near a shower and I'll rips your arms off." Grunt muttered.

* * *

><p>Liara leant casually against the railing, waiting for Ashley to play her part.<p>

Ashley wandered around, looking for an opportunity. She was in luck, Terra Firma members were lounging around at Apollo's Café, a liberal group was surveying goods from Kassa Fabrications.

Ashley wrote something down and approached the liberal group. "Hey, that lot over there," she passed one of them the note, "they asked me to give you this."

The turian took the note, realised that it was a list of insults and stormed towards Apollo's Café intending to start a row.

Ashley waited until they were threatening violence and attracting the crowds before giving Liara a discreet thumbs up.

Liara vanished over the side, Ashley walked away before fists started to fly.

* * *

><p>"<em>Bosh'tet."<em> Tali muttered.

"Oh come on!" Garrus grinned. "You're hurting my feelings."

"I'll hurt _you _in a minute!" Tali retorted.

Tali's entrance was not a dignified one, she was being smuggled in via a handcart used by cleaners.

Garrus had managed to get her by some of the most sophisticated systems in the galaxy, thanks to her tech skills, but she was still in a bad mood.

Garrus steered the cart into the storeroom, hearing another profanity from Tali when the cart hit the door.

He locked the door behind them and opened the cart, the contents glared at him.

"Yeah, not a smooth ride, I know." Garrus apologised.

"You're in the cart next time." Tali muttered as she hauled herself out. Garrus prised the cover off the vent and clambered inside.

"Turians don't like crawling," he grumbled, "did I ever mention that?"

"Neither do quarians," Tali replied, "so shift it."

Garrus clattered ahead, trying not to complain, too much.

He paused when he heard something approaching. "Don't tell me, it's a drone."

"Drones don't crawl." Tali shook her head.

They stayed put as the banging sound came closer. Something clattered to a halt in front of them.

"Liara?" Garrus ventured.

"Garrus?" The reply came as Liara crawled forwards. "You made it."

"No thanks to him." Tali muttered.

"I did my best." Garrus put on a wounded look. "How was your dip?"

"I'm glad they don't keep fish in the lake." Liara answered. "But they need to do something about the Cerberus shuttle that crashed there."

"Tell them later." Garrus pointed down the tunnel. "We don't want to keep Shepard waiting."

* * *

><p>Shepard squeezed out of the vent, checking for guards or security mechs before stepping onto solid ground.<p>

Kasumi appeared next to him. "You made it." She smiled. "Your friends are late."

"They'll be here." Shepard assured her.

At that moment, Shepard heard someone complaining above, a vent panel fell to the ground along with Garrus.

"Damn it," Garrus winced as he stood up, "that vent cramped my style, literally."

"Having fun, Vakarian?" Tali laughed.

"You try it then." Garrus called.

Tali jumped down and landed on her feet. Liara glided down using her biotics.

"Garrus, I always thought that turians were the descendants of birds." Tali folded her arms, sounding amused. "You not only seem to be flightless but you are also clumsy."

"Laugh it up, Tali." Garrus shook his head.

"Do you lot want to alert every mech in here?" Kasumi asked. "Better keep it down."

Kasumi led them into the main hall. The vaults were cavernous and filled with all sort of relics ranging from asari art to krogan statues.

"Nice." Kasumi murmured. "I could retire off this and leave a big will, start a museum too."

"Where do they keep the Prothean artefacts?" Shepard asked.

"I have no idea," Kasumi shrugged, "this is the one vault I've never broken into."

"Ah." Was Garrus' only comment.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun." Kasumi smiled. "I like a challenge."

Shepard couldn't see any cameras or guards, Kasumi pointed out that the vaults relied heavily on being impregnable in the first place, it seemed like they were turning the galaxy's best security into a joke.

"This place is more like a museum than a vault." Garrus murmured.

"What do you think the Council does for fun, Garrus?" Kasumi asked.

"Ignore good advice, stall us with political bullshit, get into dodgy situations and see their vast selection of artefacts now and then."

"Fair enough." Kasumi smirked. "Wait, stay down." She ducked behind a statue of a salarian leader or something like that.

A pair of LOKI mechs clanked past. Kasumi waited until they were gone before moving again.

"Security will be bigger and more impressive the further we get." She told them.

"Wonderful." Liara muttered dryly.

"Don't destroy the mechs." Kasumi warned them. "I've heard that they use a pairing system, if one goes down, the other alerts the army waiting in storage. Taking them out quickly doesn't work either, it only takes a second for one to begin an alert."

"They spend all these credits on mechs that could be used to protect their planets?" Garrus asked. "Instead they make them guard some old relics."

"Not just relics, some of the stuff in this place could start a war." Kasumi gestured for them to follow her. She led them down the hallways, hiding whenever mechs appeared. The relics steadily became more and more obscure as they went.

"That reminds me of Rachni." Liara gestured at an odd looking rock covered in swirls.

"It just looks like a rock to me." Garrus shrugged. "Ever dug up any, what do they call them? Dinosaurs?"

"I'm an archaeologist," Liara stated, "not a palaeontologist, I… wait, you were joking."

"You're getting better." Garrus chuckled.

"Hold up." Kasumi told them. "It's too easy." She gestured at the empty corridor. Lifted her omni-tool and scanned the space ahead. "Hmm, I can't see them, but it looks like they've got a laser grid ahead." She adjusted the settings and brought up an image. "Yes, lasers."

"They set off alarms?" Shepard asked.

"No," Kasumi answered, "they kill you. Then the mechs drag the pieces out, alert C-Sec and dump the pieces somewhere to collect."

"Lovely." Tali muttered. "I don't want to be diced, so I hope you've got a plan."

"Easy." Kasumi grinned. "You haven't seen the laser grids they used on Terra Nova, those were tricky. All we need is a way to see the beams."

"Hang on." Garrus put the sunglasses away and put his visor back on. He blinked a few times at the interface. "There, now I can see them. I'll direct you, then go over myself."

"I came prepared." Kasumi activated a visor of her own. Without another word, she flipped gracefully through the beams and landed with a flourish. "Next, please."

Tali moved up, Garrus and Kasumi directed her over and under the beams until she reached the other side, they did the same for Shepard.

"Next." Kasumi called.

Liara began to pick her way through the laser grid.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Garrus gabbled. "Wait they…"

Liara yelped as one of the beams burnt her left leg. She remained still, standing on one leg with her arms out to balance.

"They've changed them." Garrus finished. "Have we been spotted?"

Kasumi checked her omni-tool. "They change the security configurations every hour." She explained. "Bad timing, but we're not done for."

"Won't the mechs come?" Tali asked. "You said they came when the grid was disturbed."

"No, I said they dispose of a body when they _find _it." Kasumi shook her head. "Mechs are expensive but ultimately stupid."

"Hello?" Liara reminded them. "Can you help me out here?"

"I'd love to," Garrus began, "but there are two lasers about a breath away from your head." He sighed. "If you move…"

"Then I'll die." Liara finished for him.

"Enough drama." Kasumi shook her head. "We can cut the power, but the mechs will notice and they'll start searching for us."

"We don't have a choice." Shepard stated. "Cut the power."

"We've got to find it first." Kasumi shrugged. "Follow me." She glanced at Liara. "Don't go anywhere." She winked.

"Very funny." Liara muttered.

* * *

><p>"You brought weapons, didn't you?" Kasumi asked, showing them her Locust SMG.<p>

Shepard produced his Carnifex, Tali pulled out her handgun.

"Good, we're going to have to fight soon." Kasumi told them.

"What about the army of mechs you were worrying about?" Tali prompted.

"Like I said; expensive but ultimately stupid." Kasumi said. "They have to find us first."

She followed the power cables she was scanning with her omni-tool, leading them into a side passage. "Here, this is where the laser grid gets its power."

"Only the grid?" Tali asked.

"Sadly, yes." Kasumi answered, removing a panel and scanning the wires with her omni-tool. "They're not stupid, we can disable the beams but nothing else. If you wanted to take the whole system out, you'd need to disable every single power node or use an EMP bomb." Kasumi released a burst of electricity, disabling the system. "There! Garrus, did that work?"

"Two of the lasers are gone." Garrus responded.

"Just two?" Kasumi frowned. "Enough for Liara to move?""No, not yet." Garrus said. "The good news is that she won't lose her hands but she'll lose her head."

Shepard heard Liara swear in the background, she'd picked up some new words. "Just stay calm." Shepard told them. "We'll keep going until you can move."

"Easy for you to say." Liara hissed.

"Careful, that one was close to your chin." Garrus warned her.

Liara made some sort of noise halfway between a sigh and a growl in response.

"Just stay calm." Shepard told her, gesturing at Kasumi to lead them onwards. The master thief moved ahead.

The mechs were on alert, they were wandering in pairs as usual, only they had their weapons out.

Kasumi still managed to evade them, and get the squad to do the same. If they hadn't brought her along, they'd be full of holes, chopped up or still debating with the Council. Shepard decided to let her steal something if she wanted.

Kasumi overloaded the next circuit. "Better?"

"Much." Garrus answered. "You can put your feet down now, move a little to the left."

"Can you get out?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, we can." Garrus confirmed. "Duck and head left." He instructed. "Shall we wait for you or look for you?"

"Incoming!" Tali warned.

"You'll have to come to us." Shepard replied. "Get…" The radio burst into static.

"They've cut our com's." Kasumi grimaced.

Shepard saw the mechs Tali had warned them about approaching, they both raised their SMGs and opened fire.

Shepard took cover behind a column and fired his pistol, blowing the head off one of the mechs.

"More will come." Kasumi told him.

"Then we'll keep shooting." Shepard fired again.

* * *

><p>Garrus stumbled as he escaped the laser grid. "Ah! I feel like I've aged." He commented. "How's the leg?"<p>

"Tolerable." Liara responded. "Shepard? Can you hear us?" Static answered.

"They've cut us off." Garrus realised. "How rude."

"We've got to find them." Liara pulled out her pistol. "Come on!" She ran ahead, ignoring the stinging burn on her leg.

Garrus pulled out his pistol. "How do we end up in these messes?" He muttered and chased after her.

It only took her a moment to realise that she had no idea which way to go.

"Damn it!" She spat. "Garrus, which way?"

"How should I know?" Garrus waved his arms.

"Great." Liara tried her omni-tool, but that didn't help either. She sighed. "Alright, we'll go this way."

"Are you sure?"

"No." She answered before running again. Garrus shook his head and followed her.

* * *

><p>Shepard reloaded and fired another shot. The mechs were coming in greater numbers, some of them were more advanced and armed with assault rifles.<p>

A gunshot boomed next to him and another mech fell.

As Shepard turned his head, he felt the thrum of biotics flying through the air, Liara and Garrus had arrived.

"About time!" Tali shouted.

"We had to ask for directions." Garrus remarked as he put a bullet in a mech's head.

With the extra firepower, they managed to take down the mechs. Kasumi told them to move before more mechs came.

They ran, keeping an eye out for traps and shooting any mechs that got in the way.

They crashed into a huge room, filled with Prothean artefacts, including Relay statues, ancient pieces of Prothean architecture and at the far end, a beacon.

"Let's hope this is what we need." Tali murmured, keeping an eye on the doors Kasumi was sealing.

Shepard took a step forwards.

An alarm blared and three sections of the floor opened. YMIR mechs rose up and readied their weapons.

Turrets popped out of the ceiling and trained their weapons on the team.

"Oh shit!" Garrus aimed at one of the mechs. "No cover, no firepower, three mechs, four turrets and a partridge in a pear tree, as humans say."

"Hostiles detected." One of the mechs boomed. "Opening fire."

"Wait!" A voice ordered. The mechs lowered their weapons. "Commander, you have explaining to do!"

Shepard lowered his pistol, staring down the angry asari Councillor. "I'm here for that beacon, Councillor." He stated.

"You broke into our vaults!" The Councillor yelled. "Even you can't get away with this, when the others know, your Spectre status will be revoked and you can rot in jail."

"Our worlds are burning and that beacon could have the answers that save us." Shepard argued. "We only broke in here because you left us no choice."

"The Council…"

"Can go to hell!" Shepard interrupted. "You claim to be united for the good of the galaxy, but you ignored us when we told you about Saren, you ignored us when we warned you about the Reapers. You're damn well ignoring us now." He gestured at his squad. "Look at us, this is unity for the good of the galaxy, we need to stop arguing and start fighting a common enemy." He calmed slightly, his point had hit home. "Councillor, we are _so _close to defeating the Reapers once and for all. You can put me on trial, you can lock me up, execute me, whatever you please. But let me stop the Reapers first."

"He's right." Garrus added. "I will not let you stand here and stall us while our homeworlds burn."

"You didn't see Thessia fall, Councillor." Liara agreed. "The Reapers must be stopped, Shepard is the only one who can do it."

"We're standing with Shepard." Tali joined them. "We're standing for what's right."

The Councillor looked from one to the other, unable to see Kasumi who had turned invisible again, ready to spring some sort of trap.

"Can you really do it, Shepard." The Councillor asked, suddenly quiet and pleading. "Can you save Thessia? Can you save the galaxy?"

Shepard holstered his pistol and stepped up to her, so she could look him in the eye.

"Yes." He vowed. "I can try, but with my allies," he glanced at his companions, "_we _can."

The asari Councillor nodded. "Do what you must, Commander." She breathed, stepping aside and deactivating the defences.

Shepard walked past her and up to the beacon. The humming sound began to fill his ears and images filled his mind.

_Through the forbidden gates…_

_Into the galaxy's burning heart, to find a way to destroy the Reapers._

_Their gift becomes their curse when their own minds turn against them._

_Find the broken mind of the lost child of the Reapers, unleash the Signal, end the nightmare. _

_End the inferno…_

The images receded and Shepard stepped back, a sudden clarity descended in his mind.

"Liara, the code." He called. "Show me."

Liara hurried over and showed him the reams of code, they suddenly made perfect sense.

"Councillor, unlock the entrance." Shepard instructed. "We have a plan."

As they left the vaults, Liara hurried up to Shepard's side. "What is it?" She asked.

"We're going back to the Omega system, to the Omega four Relay." He explained. "We need a Reaper's brain."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The beginning bit was Shepard's worst, and last nightmare. <strong>_

_**For those of you who are worrying about the Signal destroying the Mass Relays, I can tell you now that it won't for two reasons. One: it's just a radio signal that affects Reaper minds. Two: the Relays blowing up is one of my reasons for hating Mass Effect 3's endings. **_

_**REALLY NOT LONG TO GO NOW, ONLY 5 CHAPTERS LEFT! **_


	21. The broken mind

_**My thanks to Shadowmythic for giving me this idea, he felt that Shepard should have had the opportunity to go back through the Omega 4 Relay to find a way to beat the Reapers. In this case, to find the human-Reaper larva's brain. Since this Shepard was a Paragon and blew the station up, I have a different idea for recovering the brain. **__**If he was a Renegade, I'd imagine that he'd have to fight through the Cerberus occupied station.**_

* * *

><p>The Normandy was about an hour away from the Omega 4 Relay, it still had the IFF installed, EDI had checked and double checked.<p>

The last time Shepard had been through the Relay, it had been a harrowing experience, it would probably be as harrowing again.

But he had something to do, he needed to make sure that someone else could keep up the fight if they needed to.

Liara was busy reading something when he entered her cabin, she looked pleased to see him though.

"Shepard, what can I do for you?" She asked.

"I need to ask you something." He told her. "It's important."

Liara put the datapad down and stood up. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Do you remember when you joined our minds?" Shepard asked. "To see the visions?"

"Yes." Liara nodded. "I still see them sometimes."

"Can you take the Ciphers?"

"I can, but why do you need me for that?"

"In case I don't make it." Shepard answered. "Someone needs to defeat the Reapers, I wouldn't do this but I can't give this to Garrus or Tali."

"I understand." Liara smirked suddenly. "It's a good thing I'm here then." She stepped closer, Shepard felt his pulse quicken, he also felt a slight thrum in his head as she prepared to join their minds again.

"Relax, Shepard." She told him. He closed his eyes. Images began to cascade through his mind, including the feeling of the Cipher being examined and copied, almost like a computer.

The images receded and Shepard opened his eyes. Liara closed her eyes again and gasped.

"Amazing." She breathed. "I've always wanted to understand the Protheans, you've given me that gift."

"I thought that…" Shepard had worried that he'd make her angry or depressed.

She smiled, stopping him in his tracks. "Shepard, I'm an archaeologist with few social skills who studies the Protheans." She reminded him. "It's a gift to me." She blushed for a moment. "I still find it hard to believe that you fell in love with me."

"It wasn't difficult." Shepard smiled. "I think it was when you said I'd be interesting for an _in-depth study_."

"Goddess, you still remember that?" Liara blushed again. "I didn't realise you were joking, and all I had was scientific jargon rather than something nice to say." She picked up the datapad. "I found this a while ago, my old diary." She told him. "I started it before I met you and kept on writing after Therum. Some of it is… embarrassing."

Shepard raised his eyebrows.

"Shepard, you fascinated at me the time." She added. "I was gushing a bit." She held it out. "You can read it if you like."

"Are you sure?"

"You told me about your life on Earth." She reasoned. "It's only fair."

Shepard accepted, they knew each other well enough to share more than just their childhoods and feelings.

Instead of fretting over the next few minutes, they relaxed, exchanging stories until Joker informed them that they were close to the Omega four Relay.

* * *

><p>The Normandy shot out of the Relay and into the debris field of dead ships. The ruins of the Collector station were part of the debris field now, along with the cruiser that had destroyed the original Normandy.<p>

"So, we're looking for a Reaper brain huh?" Joker asked. "Might be tricky."

"We have to find it, Joker." Shepard peered out of the viewports.

"Yeah, I know." Joker nodded. "EDI, scan for anything unusual."

The Normandy cruised through the silent debris field, the distant crashing sounds of exploding stars and black holes were faint inside the Normandy.

"I have detected an energy signature." EDI announced. "It matches the profile of an Oculus drone squadron."

"Warm up the guns." Joker told her. "We must have missed a few when we were last here."

"We did not." EDI disagreed. "These are Reaper reinforcements, a husk transport is closing in."

Joker steered the Normandy into an evasive twist and spun through a narrow gap in the debris. A couple of the Oculus drones failed to do the same and crashed.

Something hit the Normandy.

"Alert!" EDI warned. "Hull breach in the cargo bay, activating emergency Mass Effect fields to prevent decompression."

"Loco!" James called. "There's something big in here, freaking _huge_!"

"Get clear and lock the cargo bay down." Shepard instructed. "I'll be down with help."

* * *

><p>Shepard ran down to the cargo bay with Javik and Ashley in tow, grabbing his Valkyrie on the way down. There had been enough time to equip armour before going through the Relay, Shepard felt safer with it on.<p>

James was leaning against the wall, keeping an eye on the door, he had his Revenant equipped.

"What's in there?" Shepard asked.

"A new husk, it's enormous!" James panted, he patted the Revenant. "All this did was piss it off."

"We can't vent the cargo bay without causing damage to the ship." Joker radioed them. "Whatever it is, you'll have to kill it, and fast."

"Got it Joker." Shepard confirmed. "Let's get rid of our uninvited guest."

EDI opened the doors for them and they ran in, letting EDI seal the doors behind them.

"There it is!" James pointed his machine gun at the creature.

"That's a Yahg!" Shepard exclaimed.

The Yahg had been altered with cybernetics, it was much bigger than the average Yahg, standing taller than two krogan on each other's shoulders. It was much wider too, more muscular and covered in thick armour. It had claws as long as Shepard's arm and some sort of heavy auto-cannons equipped on each wrist.

The creature roared at them and opened fire with the auto-cannons, the rounds exploded against the wall as the squad took cover.

Javik fired his beam gun, heating the Yahg's armour but not doing much damage.

James opened fire with his Revenant, bullets bounced off the husk's thick plating.

"Aim for gaps in its armour!" Shepard yelled, firing his rifle at exposed flesh.

The Yahg grunted as thick blood and oil sputtered from the wound. It bellowed and charged, swinging its claws.

They ran instinctively, splitting up as the Yahg crashed into the wall.

"We're going to need more firepower to bring this damn thing down!" Ashley shouted.

Shepard looked round, hoping that someone had left a grenade launcher or something down here, but there was nothing except for the shuttles above, the Makos and the crates.

Then it occurred to Shepard that they had heavy weapons just waiting to be used.

"Ashley, get in one of the Makos," Shepard ordered, yelling over the gunfire, "we'll cover you."

"We can't drive in here!" Ashley argued.

"We need the cannons!"

"Alright," Ashley relented, "cover me!"

The squad opened fire on the monstrous husk as Ashley ran to one of the Makos, clambered inside and activate the turret.

"Whatever you do," James warned her, "don't miss!"

The husk turned towards the Mako, perhaps it knew what the turret facing it meant.

The mass accelerator fired, the husk reeled as the cannon round hit it in the face.

"Yes!" James whooped.

The husk growled and faced the Mako, smoke rose from the dent in its head.

"What the…" James spluttered. "It's still alive?"

Javik used his biotics to fling a crate at the husk, which is batted away before turning on the Prothean.

"Keep it busy." Shepard reminded James, firing on the creature's exposed back.

The Yahg roared and some of the plates on its back receded, Shepard wondered if he'd hit something vulnerable.

Three cylinders shot out of its back and clattered to the ground.

"Grenades!" James yelled as he jumped behind a crate.

The grenades exploded, scattering shrapnel across the cargo bay. Shepard lobbed a grenade of his own, blowing some of the armour off the husk.

Ashley fired the mass accelerator again, blowing a hole through the husk's chest.

The Yahg roared and aimed its cannons at the Mako. It stumbled when Javik flung another crate at it.

James fired his machine gun into the exposed internals of the husk, making it flinch, giving Shepard an opening.

Shepard ran towards it and leapt onto its back. The Yahg bucked and flailed wildly and Shepard clambered towards its head.

The husk roared, Shepard forgot his original plan and threw another grenade down the husk's throat.

He jumped and ran behind the Mako as the grenade exploded.

The cargo bay was suddenly quiet until the husk fell to the floor, missing its head.

"Loco was definitely the right nickname for you." James remarked.

"Joker, we're clear." Ashley radioed. "We're going to need some repairs down here though."

Javik prodded the corpse with his rifle. "In my cycle, they were smaller."

* * *

><p>Shepard ran back into the CIC, Joker was pulling off some crazy stunts to take out the Oculus drones.<p>

"Hold onto something!" Joker shouted, not taking his eyes of the displays. "There's a still a bunch of fighters on our tail!" He grunted as the Normandy shook, another round had made contact. "I can't shake them!"

"Commander, the cargo bay doors have opened." EDI told them. "Talon is leaving the Normandy."

"What the hell?" Joker steered the Normandy into a sharp right turn.

"Leave the fighters to me." Teriss radioed. "Find that Reaper brain."

Shepard saw a small dot on the radar as the gunship left the hanger, it wheeled under some debris and came up behind the fighters.

"Commander, we've got a clear path if she can keep those fighters off us." Joker stated.

"Correct." EDI agreed. "But her chances of survival are low."

"She'll die unless we help her." Shepard realised.

"Alert; a Reaper has entered the system." EDI added. "We have little time."

"Your call, Commander." Joker told him.

Shepard grimaced, he hated this kind of decision.

"Shepard, get that brain!" Teriss urged him.

"We can't just leave her," Joker argued, "she saved your skin."

"The Reaper brain could be our only chance to defeat the Reapers." EDI cautioned.

Shepard thought furiously. There had to be a way to do this.

They needed the brain, but he didn't want to leave Teriss to die.

"Damn it!" Shepard hissed. "Joker, turn around, we're going back for Teriss."

"Commander?" Joker asked. "Are you sure?"

"Do it, Joker."

"Aye, aye." Joker flipped the Normandy round and sped towards Teriss' position.

"Commander, what the fuck are you doing?" Teriss almost screamed, seeing the Normandy heading towards her.

"We're not leaving you to die." Shepard responded.

"No! Get that brain!" Teriss sounded close to tears. "Don't let my daughter die in vain."

"She won't." Shepard stated.

Joker opened fire, taking out two of the Oculus drones on Talon's tail. Talon turned round and fired on the last one, blasting it into pieces.

The cargo ramp opened and Talon flew back inside. "This is Talon." Teriss sounded exasperated now. "I'm inside."

"Commander, the Reaper's on our tail." Joker informed him. "We've gotta leave!"

"No." Shepard stated.

"What?"

"You're the best pilot in the Alliance, Joker." Shepard encouraged him. "We're getting past that thing, for Earth!"

Joker glanced at Shepard, reading his expression, his resolve.

He turned back to the console, grinning suddenly. "Aye aye, Shepard." He punched in some commands. "Glad you got us that cannon, EDI, boost power to the Thanix."

"That may be hazardous, Jeff." EDI warned.

"I've killed a Reaper before." Joker argued. "Do it and I'll kick this one's ass!"

"Very well, boosting power."

Joker turned the ship around and flew straight towards the Reaper. The gargantuan ship aimed one of its beams at them.

Joker hit the fire control, the Thanix fired a lance of blue fire at the Reaper, going through its shields and damaging its armour.

"Teriss, you're needed again." Shepard had an idea. "Escort Cortez to the brain, we'll take care of the Reaper."

"You're crazy, Commander." Teriss sighed. "And make up your damn mind."

Talon and the shuttle flew out of the Normandy as the Reaper concentrated on the larger ship.

The Normandy jinked and weaved through the Reaper's beams, firing whenever they had a clear shot. Despite the power of the Thanix cannon, the Reaper was only being dented. Talon and Cortez were under threat too, Oculus drones were harassing them.

A shot from the Reaper shaved past, burning the Normandy's armour.

"I can't keep this up forever!" Joker shouted.

"We've found it!" Cortez reported. "Returning to you now."

"Careful, we still need to get rid of this thing." Joker told them.

"We have EMP missiles, Jeff." EDI advised. "They cannot kill the Reaper, but since they are mostly machine, it could stun it."

"Plot a solution and fire." Joker ordered.

The Normandy shuddered as the missile sped towards the Reaper. Joker fired the Thanix again, punching a hole in its armour. The missile detonated and blue light washed across the Reaper.

The Reaper began to drift backwards, into the debris field.

Talon and the shuttle flew round the stunned Reaper and into the Normandy's shuttle bay.

"We're clear, go!" Cortez reported.

"Wait a second." Joker peered out of the window and grinned suddenly. "That Reaper is screwed."

Shepard followed his line of sight and noticed that the Reaper was starting to recover, but it was too late.

It had strayed too close to a black hole, straying beyond the small safe zone they had been fighting in. It was being torn apart by the sheer force of the black hole.

"Payback's a bitch, eh?" Joker laughed.

"Nice work." Shepard told him. "Head back to the Relay, we need to test the Signal."

* * *

><p>Shepard made sure that the brain was dormant, he didn't want any of his crew to end up being indoctrinated. Garrus confirmed that it was dead before they started to wire up various devices meant to broadcast the signal.<p>

"Should be ready in a few hours." Tali stated, throwing away a broken circuit board.

"I think I know the best place to test this thing." Garrus added. "Turian and krogan forces recently entered Cipritine, Palaven's capital city. If this Signal can kill the Reapers, then we have a chance to retake Palaven. That will be a strong foothold for retaking Earth and Thessia."

Shepard nodded. "That makes sense." He agreed.

Teriss walked over, looking exhausted. "Commander, sorry if I spooked you."

"You did what you thought was right." Shepard shrugged. "I can't fault you for that, it worked out anyway."

"Yeah, I guess it did." Teriss accepted. "Provided that piece of junk works."

"If it doesn't," Tali muttered, "I'll _make _it work." She glanced at them. "Trust me, I'm a quarian."

"Then we're bound to win." Garrus chuckled. "The Reapers won't know what hit them."

* * *

><p><em><strong>That was probably the last husk to be added, I call them Devastators.<strong>_

_**Why shouldn't EMP work anyway? Reapers are mostly machines, I wondered why no-one thought of using EMP weapons in the Mass Effect series, I don't see why they couldn't be used against synthetics at least.**_

_**Next up is the Battle for Palaven, then there's not much more to go, only three missions, then it's the Battle for Earth. **_


	22. The battle for Palaven

_**Time to test out the Signal, and go to Palaven, which I thought should have been in the game. Yes, it is radioactive, but Shepard and his allies have armour that can be sealed. Speaking of which, when I say helmets, I mean helmets, not the gas masks they tend to wear. **_

_**My thanks to Legionary Prime for giving me a name for Garrus' father.**_

* * *

><p>Shepard checked the seal on his helmet. Palaven had a weak magnetic field, meaning that it was radioactive. Only Garrus and other turians could get away without sealed armour.<p>

The shuttle was heading for the forward command post in Cipritine, the turian capital.

The city was in a better state than Earth and Thessia, the turians had a powerful military and the krogan to help.

The shuttle touched down in the fortified square. Shepard stepped out, followed by Liara, Garrus, Grunt, Ashley and Tali.

"Commander," Victus greeted them, "good to see you."

"Yeah, I'd hate to kill Reapers on my own." Wrex added, also wearing sealed armour. "Apparently this lot forgot how to hold a gun."

"We're doing well, Shepard." Victus gestured at a holographic map. "But we're not taking Palaven back with Reapers present." He glanced at the device Tali and Grunt were carrying. "I hope that thing works."

"So do I." Shepard agreed. "What's the situation?"

"Our forces have taken this small part of the city." Victus explained, pointing at the location. "Our heavy units are being supported by krogan. We have limited air support, command doesn't want us to use the big guns if we can help it."

"What do you think?" Shepard asked.

"We can't help it." Victus shrugged. "A damaged city is better than no city at all."

"What kind of heavy support do we have?"

"Heavy mechs, tanks, IVFs, krogan tanks and Tomkahs, artillery pieces and gunships." Victus listed.

"Have you got any EMPs or electrical weapons?" Garrus asked.

"A few, why?" Victus glanced at a weapons stockpile. "Do they work on Reapers?"

"They stun them," Garrus explained, "they should give you time to whittle down their defences or find a weak spot."

"Excellent." Victus nodded. "How do you want to test this device of yours?"

"We need to reach the best point in the city to broadcast a radio signal." Shepard explained. "Somewhere high up, I guess." He glanced at Tali, who nodded.

"Hmm, the Bastion." Victus pointed at the largest structure in the middle of the city. "This was meant to defend the city, a fortress where our leaders and most of Cipritine could hide." Victus sighed. "The Reapers hit it first, they figured it out." He focused again. "It has its own com's array and equipment, that should let you boost any transmissions you need to use." He gestured at the red space around it. "The bad news is that the Reapers have a heavy presence around it and have dug in."

"All we need to do is get there," Shepard said, "then we can take them out."

"Hopefully." Tali murmured.

"We'd have attacked sooner or later." Victus shrugged. "I'll rally our forces for an assault. Will you need air support or armour?"

"We have two Makos and a gunship." Shepard told him. "The Normandy can also provide support with EMP missiles and a Thanix cannon."

"Great." Victus nodded. "We've got a few Thanix cannons, so we can at least dent the Reapers. Get your vehicles down here, we'll start the assault soon."

Shepard opened a channel to the Normandy and began to radio instructions.

He also heard Garrus talk to Victus. "Before we attack, I need to know," he requested, "has there been any sign of my family?"

"Hang on." Victus checked a list on his omni-tool. "We have a Solana Vakarian working on the radios. We also have a Malik Vakarian working on weapons."

"Can I see them?"

"Of course." Victus waved one of the troopers over. "Bathus, take Commander Vakarian to the com's unit."

The trooper saluted and left with Garrus in tow, Tali followed for some reason.

Bathus led Garrus into a prefab shelter and pointed at a female turian operating one of the radios and an older male fiddling with an assault rifle.

"Sol?" Garrus called. "Dad?"

The female turian turned, jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around Garrus. "Garrus!" She exclaimed. "I thought you'd died."

"I'm hard to kill." Garrus tried to sound steady, but he was almost tearful with relief.

"Garrus…" Solana stepped back. "It's so good to see you alive."

"That's an understatement." The older turian limped over and patted Garrus' shoulder. "Every time we hear about you or Shepard on the radios, we all go nuts." He grinned. "You're heroes to all of us."

Garrus shook his head. "No, I should have been here for both of you."

"Someone had to help save the galaxy." Solana consoled him. "I've heard about this device you've brought."

Garrus nodded slowly. "Thanks, Sol." He murmured. "Stay safe, both of you."

"You too, Garrus." Malik told him. "Keep up the good fight, son."

Tali was waiting for Garrus outside of the prefab. "Garrus?"

"Solana's alive." Garrus told her. "So is my dad, but he was hurt."

"Garrus," Tali reached out and clasped his hand, "don't beat yourself up about it."

"If I don't, then who will?"

"Don't be like me." Tali insisted. "I don't want my favourite turian to end up depressed."

Garrus cocked his head to one side. "Favourite turian?"

"Who else?" Tali shrugged.

"Mm." Garrus grunted. "Thanks, Tali." He nodded. "Come on, we're taking this planet back, and not just for the turians."

"That's more like it." Tali agreed.

* * *

><p>Shepard checked the Mako's controls, Liara adjusted the scanners and updated their radar.<p>

"So," she glanced at him, "what's the plan?"

"Tali and Grunt are carrying the device." Shepard told her. "Talon will work with us to get their Mako to the Bastion. Victus has assigned some turian tanks to follow us, Wrex has sent some krogan to back us up."

"Sounds good to me."

"Easier said than done though." Shepard muttered. "This is Dagger to Warhammer and Broadsword, do you read me?"

"Warhammer here, we read you." Wrex responded.

"Broadsword here, loud and clear." Victus replied. "Thanks for the stylish codenames."

"Catapult, Longbow, Mace, Axe and Javelin squads are ready too." One of the turian commanders added. "We're ready and willing to start the assault."

"Remind me what the codenames mean again." Tali muttered.

"We're Dagger." Garrus explained. "Warhammer is Wrex, Broadsword is Victus, Catapult is the artillery, Longbow is the air support, Mace is the krogan armour, Axe is the turian armour and Javelin is the fleet support."

"Thanks." Tali replied. "I've got it now."

"Is everyone ready?" Shepard asked his team, they confirmed their status eagerly. "This is Dagger, we're ready." Shepard reported.

"Roger that." Victus replied. "All platoons, begin the assault."

* * *

><p>On the main roads, Broadsword and Warhammer, the biggest and heaviest teams, moved into attack position. Longbow squadrons, gunships and fighters moved in to support them. Axe and Mace covered the flanks, Catapult prepared for long range support. It was odd to see turians and krogan working together, but these were strange times, with a common enemy.<p>

The krogan tanks were on par with the turian tanks, what they had in firepower, the turian armour had in manoeuvrability, favouring hover tanks armed with missile pods.

"Warhammer, are you ready to kill some Reapers?" Victus asked.

"Let's kick their asses, Broadsword." Wrex growled.

"All units, open fire!"

The city shook as the vast platoons of tanks, infantry, gunships and artillery fired on the Reapers and their forces. Even the larger Reapers on the ground staggered with the firepower hitting them.

There was a collective cheer as one of the Reapers fell as several Thanix beams hit it. That was the turian edge, they had special tanks with Thanix cannons, the krogan had brought napalm weapons made to burn through shields and armour.

"All units, continue firing!" Victus rallied his forces. "There will be no retreat and no surrender. Palaven falls or rises here and now!"

"Now you're talking!" Wrex laughed. "Wipe the Reapers out! For Tuchanka!"

* * *

><p>Dagger team moved through the ruined but mostly quiet streets, escorted by four turian hover tanks and three gunships, including Talon.<p>

"Sounds like Wrex is having fun." Liara commented.

"He's a krogan," Garrus stated, "if it's a battle, he's having fun, the bigger the better."

"How far are we, Skipper?" Ashley asked.

"About half an hour." Shepard replied. "Talon, any sign of hostiles?"

"Negative." Teriss responded. "Looks like the plan is working."

"No plan survives contact with the enemy," Garrus murmured, "turian military rule number two."

"What's number one?" Ashley asked.

"Take the safety off and aim before firing."

"Alright," Shepard put more pressure on the accelerator, "let's speed it up a bit."

The convoy picked up speed, Talon and the other gunships remained at low altitude, although Talon kept popping over the buildings to see if anything was waiting for them.

"Garrus," Tali began, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Tali." Garrus answered. "Well, I will be when we defeat the Reapers."

"Same here."

"Keep the com' clear you two." Ashley sighed.

They moved in silence, only updating each other on status every now and then. Protecting Tali's Mako was paramount, it was carrying the device.

"Talon here, there's movement ahead." Teriss informed them. "Reapers, Conquerors. They don't seem to have noticed us, yet."

"Engage on my order." Shepard instructed.

"Copy that." Ashley confirmed.

Shepard waited until he could see the husks, then for Garrus to confirm that he could hit them.

"Fire!" Shepard ordered.

The Makos opened fire, mincing the husks with their cannons.

"Hah!" Grunt cried gleefully. "That was a good start."

* * *

><p>The main forces were doing well, in fact they were pushing forwards. Thanks to their firepower, numbers and teamwork they were obliterating the husks that got in their way.<p>

They were even giving the bigger Reapers pause.

They were only calling in orbital strikes when they had to, the devastation was immense.

"Longbow, incoming Oculus squadrons."

"Catapult, adjust your aim, you're falling short."

"Mace here, encountering heavy resistance, but we're bigger."

"Broadsword to Warhammer," Victus relayed, "keep an eye on the left flank, husks are closing in."

"Conquerors and Demons are closing in." Axe reported. "We're ready for them."

"This is Longbow, Oculus squadron destroyed." Longbow stated. "Only one gunship down."

"What's the status on Dagger?" Wrex inquired.

"They're on track and moving quickly." HQ answered. "Some resistance, but it's minimal."

"Let's keep it that way." Victus added. "Catapult, concentrate fire on grid four-five-two."

More artillery shells landed on Reaper forces, metal and dismembered limbs went flying.

"Incoming Destroyer, twelve o'clock." One of the tanks reported.

"Charge the Thanix cannons." Victus instructed. "I want that thing turned into scrap metal."

* * *

><p>"How far?" Garrus asked.<p>

"I can see the Bastion." Teriss answered. "It's not far now."

"Not for you anyway." Garrus muttered. "You can just fly over."

"You ground-pounders always did envy us sky-heads." Teriss chuckled. "I love our complex military jargon. It makes my daughters laugh for ages."

"Daughters?" Garrus wondered aloud.

"Tesha was my eldest." Teriss' voice became a little sadder. "Rema and Siryn are twins, they're safe."

"I don't mean to sound inconsiderate," Ashley apologised in advance, "but the com' needs to be secure."

"Sorry, Ash." Garrus shook his head.

"Shutting up now." Teriss said.

"Tell you what," Ashley added, "I'll join your gossip on the Normandy, drinks are on me."

"That's what we like to hear." Garrus agreed.

The convoy rumbled onwards, the distant thumps of explosions and rattles of gunfire were persistent.

"That's assuming that we survive." Liara murmured.

Shepard reached across and gave her hand a squeeze. "We will, Liara."

"Coming from you," she half smiled, "I can believe that."

"Reaper forces ahead, two krogan husks." Talon reported. "Let's ruin their entire day."

"All yours." Shepard agreed.

Talon opened fire, the machine guns riddled the krogan husks with bullets, staining the ground with orange blood and thick oil.

"They're gone." Teriss sounded pleased with herself. "Wait…" she paused. "There's a big one coming!"

"Incoming!" Liara spotted it. "Devastator!"

"Shit!" Shepard swore. "Back up! Back up!" He ordered. "All units, open fire!"

The turian tanks fired their rocket pods, but the missiles hardly stopped the husk. The Mako cannons had more punch but they too were doing little damage.

The Devastator fired its auto-cannons, gutting one of the hover tanks. It lashed out and grabbed another one, snapping it in half.

"Get clear!" Teriss yelled. "I'm firing an EMP!"

A blue hued missile streaked from the gunship's missile pod and hit the husk. The creature shook as the EMP coursed through its body and jammed its cybernetics.

"Fire now!" Shepard ordered.

The tanks concentrated fire, blasting holes in the Devastator, but it still stood and the EMP was wearing off.

"Damn it!" Shepard hissed. "We need to do something fast!"

"We can." Garrus stated. "All units, concentrate fire on the building on the husk's right. Just do it now!"

The weapons turned and fired at the building, it began to tilt towards the husk.

"Oh." Ashley realised. "That's going to hurt."

The building collapsed, falling onto the husk and crushing it. A severed arm was all that was left, along with a pool of blood and oil.

"Welcome to Palaven." Garrus grinned. "Enjoy your funeral."

"We've got to go around though." Ashley told them.

"Better than being killed." Shepard steered to the left. "This is Dagger to Broadsword and Warhammer, we encountered a Devastator and lost two escort tanks." He told them. "We're diverting towards the battlefield, watch your fire."

"See you soon." Wrex answered. "We've got a hell of a party over here."

* * *

><p>The Thanix beams sliced through the Reaper's armour, carving through it.<p>

The Destroyer groaned and fell, taking out several buildings.

"Destroyer killed." Victus stated. "That's two big ones for Broadsword."

"They're doing better than expected." Liara pointed up at the higher road, they were going under to avoid attention, the device had to survive.

"Incoming," Teriss was keeping low, under the high roads, "Messenger drones."

"Assuming direct control." The drones' eyes turned yellow as Harbinger took control. The Messengers opened fire on the convoy, one of the gunships crashed and exploded.

Garrus took aim and fired, the cannon round slammed into the Messenger's eye and blew it in half.

Missiles streaked from one of the hover tanks and blasted another one to pieces, Grunt took aim with the cannon in Ashleys Mako and blew the last Messenger apart.

"We need to move faster." Shepard decided. "Dagger, pick it up. This is Dagger to all forces, we're moving faster, keep fighting."

"Message received and understood." HQ replied.

Shepard pushed the accelerator down and the Mako picked up speed, the other units matched the pace and sped down the road.

"You sure about this, Shepard?" Liara asked. "We can't ram through the Reapers."

"We're ending this fight." Shepard grated. "Here and now."

"Damn right we are!" Garrus whooped.

* * *

><p>"Longbow to Broadsword." The gunship leader reported. "Dagger is almost at the Bastion, but more Reapers are coming."<p>

"What kind?" Victus asked with dread.

"The huge ones." Longbow answered.

"Catapult," Victus called, "how are the Thanix cannons?"

"Running out." Catapult replied. "We've used most of our power cells."

"Damn it!" Victus hissed. "All units, only call in fleet support or artillery if necessary."

Ahead, he saw the large Reapers begin their descent.

"Shepard had better pull through." He murmured, not realising that Wrex could hear him.

"Hey, he's got a quad, maybe two." Wrex assured him, krogan style. "He'll make them regret ever leaving Dark Space."

* * *

><p>The Makos entered the underground storage area, using a route that Garrus had told them about. The turian hover tank followed them, Talon touched down outside.<p>

Shepard exited the Mako with his squad, the turians joined Ashley's team.

"We've got fewer troops than we'd like." Shepard said. "I'll take Liara and Garrus to clear the way, the rest of you _must _keep the device safe or this'll all be for nothing. Teriss can provide air support since the Reapers are concentrating on the main force."

"You can count on us, Skipper." Ashley nodded.

"I know." Shepard smiled. "Let's do this."

He took his squad and ran ahead, taking the stairs up to the first floor. The reception area was empty, but there were bluish-black blood trails, turian blood. The Reapers had been here and had taken the bodies to be made into husks.

"Stay sharp." Shepard whispered. He went first, his rifle followed his line of sight, the others followed him quietly.

"Garrus," Shepard asked, "how many floors?"

"Two hundred." Garrus recalled.

"We've got to climb all that way?" Liara shook her head. "That'll take too long."

"Yeah." Garrus agreed. "Which is why I'd take the lift." He pointed at the easier way up.

They took the lift up first, then waited for Ashley and her group to follow them up. They only took one lift to avoid splitting up or getting lost. They weren't on the roof yet, they still had two floors left to go, and according to Talon they were occupied by husks.

"I'll take point." Shepard explained. "Liara, Garrus, you're with me. Stay in contact with Talon."

A blood curdling screech shivered down the hallways.

"Banshee." Garrus muttered. "Shit."

"Maybe you'd like some support?" Ashley suggested.

"Keep the Signal safe." Shepard insisted. "We'll call Talon if we need to."

Shepard moved ahead, slowly with his rifle up, aware of Garrus and Liara just behind him. He could hear each breath, amplified by Liara's helmet. Either that or she needed to turn the volume down.

As they walked towards one of the offices, Shepard heard a low growl.

The door crashed open, husks and Devils erupted from the office. The squad opened fire instinctively, mowing down the husks and staining the corridor with blood.

"I hate it when they do that." Garrus muttered.

The wailing scream was getting closer too, Liara was starting to shake. Either she was frightened of the Banshees or it was some kind of psychological effect that worked on asari. Shepard didn't know about Garrus, but he shared the same fear with Liara.

"Do you want to hang back?" Shepard asked.

"No." Liara answered. "I'll be fine."

They crept onwards, trying to move faster but not daring to. They were aware of the second team following a few minutes behind and didn't want to bring a horde of husks down on them.

The screaming was now close enough to make their ears ring, that meant…

The wall on their left shattered, a Banshee stepped out and howled at them.

"Concentrate fire!" Shepard ordered. The squad fired, bullets ripped into the Banshee's barriers.

It responded by hurling Shepard and Garrus back down the corridor. As Shepard stumbled to his feet, he realised one thing: the Banshee had decided that Liara needed to be converted.

Luckily, Liara was having none of it. She hurled some of the debris at the husk, knocking it back. Shepard and Garrus ran forwards, firing as they went.

The Banshee screamed as the force of the bullets and the debris flung at it knocked it out of a window, down to its death.

"What goes up…" Garrus prompted.

"Must come down." Shepard finished. "Let's keep moving."

* * *

><p>As they climbed onto the roof through a fire escape, they could see the scale of the battle. The three large Reapers had arrived and were carving though the combined forces below.<p>

"Dagger, this is Broadsword." Victus called them. "Where the hell are you?"

"We're on the roof now, we're setting up the device." Shepard answered, watching Tali wire the complex circuitry up to the radio pylons.

"Make it fast, we've got Reapers down here, Mace and Longbow have taken heavy casualties."

"Just hold on." Shepard insisted. "Tali, how long?"

"Just about there." Tali stated. "It's ready!"

"This is Dagger to all forces," Shepard announced, "we're broadcasting the signal now."

Shepard lifted the trigger, feeling his nerves jangle, what if this didn't work?

Only one way to find out.

He pushed the button.

Harsh feedback filled his ears as the Signal erupted. A greenish flare erupted from the pylons and washed across the city.

The Reapers paused, growling.

"Did it work?" Tali sounded frantic.

One of the Reapers turned towards the turian forces, as if glancing at another Reaper.

It growled and fired.

The team whooped as the Reaper opened fire on the other Reaper, cutting it to pieces.

The third Reaper howled and began to jabber before simply crashing into the second Reaper, straight into a skyscraper. The husks below began to turn on each other, or get shot by the attack force.

The Reaper that had rammed the second was still alive, but the Signal had also disabled its defences, the main force opened fire and finished it off.

"Shepard," Victus cheered, "We've got our planet back! There's hope!"

Liara whooped and practically jumped on Shepard, their helmets clacked as they collided. Garrus was calling his relatives and giving them the good news whilst Tali bounced around him. Ashley gave the dead Reapers a two fingered salute, Grunt was roaring triumphantly.

It was a major victory, now they could beat the Reapers.

But they still needed a way to broadcast it across the entire galaxy, they needed to defeat the Reapers once and for all.

The sad truth was that they couldn't keep on winning like this.

Shepard decided to worry about that later as Liara whooped in his ear again, they had something to celebrate after all.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Only four or five chapters to go now, planning is complete and next is the return to Horizon, so we're close to the end now. <strong>_

_**I'll be working solidly on this over the weekend, so it should be finished soon.**_


	23. False Sanctuary

_**This chapter may be a bit longer than usual, but Legionary Prime gave me an idea that I couldn't turn down, I have some loose ends to tie up.**_

* * *

><p>The turians were already popping corks by the time Shepard and his team arrived at the HQ, Solana and Malik rushed out to congratulate their son.<p>

"Shepard." Victus waved Shepard over to the tank he was standing on. "People of Palaven, let it be remembered that we would never have taken our world back without this man." He gestured at Shepard. "I give you Commander Shepard, the saviour of Palaven and the scourge of the Reapers!" He raised his bottle. "To the crew of the Normandy."

"To the crew of the Normandy!" The turians cheered.

"My friend." Victus jumped down from the tank. "You've done better than anyone could have hoped."

"I had help, from my team and from you." Shepard added.

"Humble even now." Victus chuckled. "We've won a major victory against the Reapers, it's a start."

"Did it affect the whole planet?"

"Yes." Victus grinned. "Even if it didn't drive them mad, it took down their defences. They were doomed as soon as you started the broadcast."

"Excellent." Shepard nodded. "Now all we need to do is find a way to get it across the whole galaxy."

"I wish you luck with that." Victus said. "By the way, with Palaven liberated, we can give you our full military support, we'll be there for Earth."

"Thank you," Shepard shook his hand, "Primarch Victus."

"Yes." Victus agreed. "I think I can get used to the title now."

* * *

><p>The greeting onboard the Normandy wasn't all that different, James was passing the drinks around when they returned.<p>

It was a time to celebrate, for once. James made that clear by slapping a can of beer into Shepard's hand. "Enjoy yourself, Loco." He added. "You've earned it."

As promised, Ashley was listening to the gossip, they were avoiding drunkenness in case they had to respond to an emergency, but one drink couldn't hurt.

"We're taking Earth back!" James whooped. "We're gonna make the Reapers pay!"

"I'd hate to be them when we take Thessia back." Teriss added.

"They're totally screwed now." Ashley agreed.

Shepard wanted to join in the celebrations, but something felt off about it all.

All he could think of was how many people had died for this.

Kirrahe, Tesha, Kaidan, Jenkins, Pressly, Benezia, the Protheans, many trillions.

What would he do if this war ended?

He didn't know, because he doubted that he would survive.

"Shepard?" Liara's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "Not much of a party goer?"

"Not really." Shepard replied. "We've lost a lot of people, there's no way around that."

"But we can save many more." Liara reassured him, giving his hand a squeeze. "We'll take Earth back and destroy the Reapers for good."

"You think so?"

"I _know _we will." Liara smiled. "Because you're leading us."

Shepard smiled, he couldn't help himself, he leaned forwards and kissed her.

There was a wolf whistle from Joker, making the others notice.

"Aww!" James crooned. "I didn't know you had it in you, Loco."

"I'll drink to that." Ashley raised her glass.

"To Loco and Lola," James agreed, "the craziest couple in the galaxy."

"Maybe when this war is over," Garrus suggested, "you two can get married with lots of little blue children."

"Thanks." Liara blushed.

"You can be the best man." Shepard told Garrus.

"I'll eat the cake." Grunt chuckled, making everyone laugh.

"First though." Shepard hated to put them back into context. "We have to end this war."

"We will." Garrus raised his glass. "But for now, we've got them in our crosshairs and they're done for." He was momentarily distracted by Tali leaning against him. "To the coming battle."

"To a severe ass kicking for the Reapers." James laughed.

"To glory." Ashley agreed.

"To honour." Grunt added.

"To friendship." Tali nodded.

"And to lost friends." Javik seemed to smile. "For we would be nowhere without them."

"To hope." Liara smiled.

"To all of us." Shepard raised the can of beer.

It was quite a moment, solemn and happy at the same time.

They had everything to lose, but now there was a chance that they could win, and they had everything to win. Absolutely everything.

They'd seen the krogan celebrate that unknown gift on Tuchanka.

A future.

A tomorrow that everyone took for granted could vanish in an instant, the world as they knew it could be rocked within a moment, their lives could be turned upside down in a second.

But as Shepard had told Harbinger; they would fight, they would sacrifice and they would find a way.

Because they deserved a future too.

The Reapers had no right to take it, now it was time to show them.

* * *

><p>The Normandy returned to the Citadel, Shepard had to tell the Council about their success on Palaven and get their support for retaking Earth.<p>

Retaking the galaxy, actually. This wasn't just about Earth anymore.

Shepard met the Council in the Citadel tower, holograms of Anderson and Hackett were waiting there too.

"Commander Shepard," the asari Councillor began, "if the reports are to believed, then you have a weapon that can defeat the Reapers."

"The Signal works." Shepard confirmed. "It drives Reapers insane and makes them kill each other, it also disables their defences, making them vulnerable."

For once, the Council had nothing to say, no reprimands.

"Then…" the asari Councillor murmured, "I was right to let you see the beacon."

"There is bad news from Earth though." Hackett stated. "Tell them, Admiral."

Anderson nodded. "The Reapers are building something big, in London." He explained. "More Reapers are arriving every day and they're hitting us harder."

"We still need to find a way to broadcast the Signal across the whole galaxy." Shepard told him. "It'll take us too long to use it in every system."

"Talk to anyone who can help." Anderson instructed. "Aria T'Loak, Liara T'Soni, anyone. We need you to end this, and fast."

"Cerberus might have answers." Hackett murmured. "We still can't find their HQ."

"Provided that they have one." Anderson muttered.

"I'll find them, Admirals." Shepard promised. "I'll find a way."

"Glad to hear it, Shepard." Anderson saluted. "Anderson out." The hologram faded.

"This meeting of the Council is concluded." The turian Councillor surmised. "And Commander, good luck."

* * *

><p>Shepard walked out onto the commons, feeling deflated. He'd achieved something, but they still had several hurdles to jump over.<p>

"Shepard!" Liara ran over.

"It went fine." Shepard assumed that she was going to ask him about the Council. He realised that she looked flustered, almost fearful.

"Shepard…" She hesitated. "I found…"

"Are you alright?" Shepard asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, but…" Liara held out a datapad. "Your mother is still alive."

Shepard felt numbed as he took the datapad and read the screen. It displayed the profile of Captain Hannah Stannard, she commanded the SSV Kilimanjaro, a Dreadnaught in the Alliance navy.

"Are you sure?" Shepard didn't doubt Liara, but this was almost impossible to believe.

"I have my ways, Shepard." Liara nodded. "She is your mother."

"Then…" Shepard felt his hand tremble. "Why was I left on Earth? Why was I abandoned?"

Liara hung her head. "You can ask her that yourself." She gestured over her shoulder. "I hate to make assumptions, but I thought you'd want to ask her in person. I invited her here, telling her that I was an official from the asari fleet."

Shepard glanced at the woman looking out across the lake, dressed in a navy uniform.

"Liara," he sighed, "this is something I can't do alone."

"Then I'll stand with you." Liara promised.

Shepard smiled at her, although he was still rattled. He walked towards the woman, Liara moved slightly ahead.

Hannah Stannard turned and noticed Liara. "Ah, the representative from Thessia."

"No, I'm afraid I lied to you." Liara admitted. "But it was for a reason."

Stannard noticed Shepard and gasped. "You…" She breathed. "But you… I thought he'd died." Then the penny dropped. "You must be… my _son_. You look just like your father."

Shepard really didn't know what to say, he was just as shocked.

"How did you know?" Stannard asked Liara.

"A child left with a small family, called Shepard." Liara answered. "I thought you'd like to meet your son, you must have known that he was out there, fighting."

"I never wanted that life for you, son." Hannah turned to Shepard. "That's why I left. Your father had a decent life, I wanted you to follow him."

"I don't remember him." Shepard murmured. "I grew up on the streets."

"He died, didn't he?" Hannah sighed. "His business partner went mad and killed him." She shook her head. "When I heard about a Shepard on Elysium, I wondered if it was you, I hoped it wasn't."

"Well, it was him." Liara confirmed.

"Just who are _you _anyway?" Stannard demanded. "You went to a lot of trouble to make us meet."

"I'm his… how do humans say it?" Liara muttered.

"Fiancée?" Shepard offered.

"I guess I am, yes." Liara agreed.

Stannard raised her eyebrows, startled again. "I expected you to be many things." She glanced at Shepard. "Yet you continue to surprise me."

"I met Liara three years ago." Shepard explained. "We stopped Saren together."

"I heard." Stannard stated. "I am proud of you, but like I said, I never wanted this life for you."

"I'm content." Shepard assured her. "Maybe not with the military, but I have friends, I have Liara."

"Mm." Stannard didn't sound pleased.

"Why did you never try to find me?" Shepard asked.

"I wanted to, after hearing about Elysium." Stannard admitted. "But I began to hear odd rumours, I thought that it couldn't be you."

"What rumours could make you stop looking for your son?" Liara wondered aloud.

Stannard glanced at her. "You." She answered. "Especially you, rumours spread that a Commander Shepard was not only working with aliens, but was in a relationship with one." She turned back to Shepard. "Your father and his family were Terra Firma members, maybe I didn't agree with them thoroughly, but I still admired their stand."

She frowned. "I was surprised to learn about your alliances."

"Maybe it's because I survived through the worst of humanity." Shepard offered. "I lived on the streets, I joined the Alliance to get away from it all. I ended up working for Cerberus against my will, now I'm fighting them."

"I'm just… it's surprising that you've ended up with an asari."

"You must understand, there's a moment when you meet someone and something just clicks." Shepard remembered the feeling, something clicked, just worked whenever he was with Liara. "There's a person who you fall for, sometimes it's not who you expect."

"I know." Stannard agreed. "Look, I can cope with you and Liara, I really can. And I'm sorry that I didn't try to talk to you."

"I'm glad we met." Shepard accepted. "I never known family before."

Liara smiled as they embraced. Shepard had helped her a lot, given her a lot, it was time that she gave him something.

* * *

><p>After his mother had left, Shepard and Liara found a table at Apollo's Café, they had time to talk. Shepard was grateful to her, truly thankful.<p>

Shepard went to order drinks, finding yet another surprise.

"I thought that you owned a bar on Illium?" He recognised the Matriarch who had run a bar rather than take part in politics.

"Things changed." Aethyta lied.

"You've been watching Liara for a while now." Shepard had noticed, he was concerned about Liara's safety. "What for?"

"It's complicated."

"Then make it simple."

"Only because I like you, and you got that jerk out of my bar." Aethyta shrugged. "The other Matriarchs want me to watch her, she's no threat to them, you and I know that. But they're paranoid."

"I see." Shepard was relieved.

"There's more to it than that." She admitted. "Remember that I said that I had a pureblood relationship? Liara is my daughter."

Shepard raised his eyebrows. "I think I need a strong drink." He muttered. "Two reunions in one day."

"I think I'd better stay clear." The Matriarch advised.

"Why?" Shepard frowned. "She might like to meet you."

"She probably knows already."

"Nevertheless, it might be good to talk to her." Shepard insisted. "She hasn't got any family left apart from you."

Aethyta sighed, glancing at Liara. "Up to you." She muttered. "I don't think that she'd like to talk."

"We'll see."

It didn't take as much coaxing as Shepard had thought, Liara already knew about Aethyta due to her knack for finding information, but she did want to meet her.

Shepard listened to them talk and gradually make a connection, some of it was nice, like how Liara had gained her childhood nickname "little-wing" from Benezia. Some of it was funny, like how Liara was the granddaughter of a krogan.

"You know that you're a quarter krogan." Aethyta told her.

"I'm not sure it works like that." Liara shrugged.

"Whatever," Aethyta smirked, "but if you ever feel the urge to head-butt someone, it's genetic."

"I've never wanted to head-butt anyone." Liara countered.

"Not even a little?"

"I don't head-butt people."

"Suit yourself."

Aethyta also knew about Liara and Shepard, their relationship, but knowing Aethyta, she had no problems with that. Although she did threaten to throw a singularity at Shepard if he ever mistreated her. Not that he would.

It had been an odd day, lots of revelations and two reunions simultaneously.

But resting was over, it was time to get back to the fight.

* * *

><p>Shepard trawled through all the possibilities, he had to find the Prothean VI from Thessia, the problem was that he didn't know where Cerberus was hiding. They'd raided several outposts and had only found dead ends and some angry troops.<p>

"Please tell me we have something." Shepard requested as Garrus walked up to the galaxy map.

"We might have." That was surprising. "Liara and EDI have been working on tracing that assassin's ship, they got a lead from an old friend."

Liara walked into the CIC with some datapads. "I tracked Leng's ship to Freedom's Progress, he changed ships there." She explained. "But luckily for us, Thane Krios was there, he contacted me and gave me the ID codes for the ship."

"What's Thane doing on Freedom's Progress?" Shepard asked.

"Helping the colonists." Liara answered. "His syndrome's getting worse, he's helping out however he can."

Shepard studied the datapad Liara had given him, it showed a route that vanished in the Shadow Sea system. "This trail ends suddenly."

"Something blocks the scanners in that system." Garrus picked up the discussion. "But I took a look through the turian database, they did a raid on a Cerberus station a while ago. This scan and radio block is textbook Cerberus, EDI concurs."

"So Cerberus is in the Shadow Sea system." Shepard surmised. "And we all know what colony is in that system."

"Horizon." Garrus agreed. "There's also a refugee camp called Sanctuary out there."

"I've contacted Randall Enzo," Liara added, "he's already there and managed to confirm a Cerberus presence before his com's were jammed.

"Joker, set a course for Horizon." Shepard instructed. "We'll gear up on the way." He ushered Garrus and Liara towards the lift.

"And supposing that your pilot needs to go to the bathroom?" Joker asked.

"Cross your legs."

"If it didn't break them." Joker muttered. "No-one ever thought of that when building this ship."

* * *

><p>Following coordinates from Enzo, the shuttle touched down outside a large facility, at least thirty stories high with a tall tower at the end.<p>

It was dark, the middle of the night, perfect time for infiltration.

Shepard stepped out, nearly putting his boot on a dead Cerberus trooper.

"Sorry." Randall deactivated his cloak. "Didn't have time to take care of the garbage."

"What's the situation?" Shepard asked.

"Not brilliant." Randall replied. "Cerberus troops and mechs own that place, it's heavily guarded and has anti-air defences, which is why I told you to land here."

"So how do we get in?" Garrus asked.

"That wall is part of a dam." Randall pointed at the wall facing them, on closer inspection, Shepard could see that there was a valley that housed a reservoir. "We get inside and scale the wall."

"That's insane." Garrus muttered.

"You got a better idea?"

"Not really."

"Exactly." Randall gestured at the compound. "It's meant to be a safe haven, I'm not sure what Cerberus wants with it, but I've seen a few civilian shuttles arrive and not come out again."

"Then we'd better get in there." Shepard murmured. "Get some grapples from the shuttle, we're going in."

* * *

><p>"I've never seen a dam built into a cliff like that before." Liara surveyed it through the scope of Garrus' sniper rifle with the night vision on.<p>

"Groundwater." Garrus explained, holding out his hand for the scope. "Either that or they just built the compound over the river." Liara passed him the scope, he reattached it to his sniper rifle. "They can power that place with hydro-electric power, HEP, for as long as they please. Fresh water too, all they have to do is filter it."

"The perfect setup for a colony or sanctuary." Randall added. "Cerberus knows how to trick people."

"Alright then." Shepard checked his rifle. "Liara and I will go down to the dam and find a way inside, you two will cover us with your sniper rifles."

"My pleasure." Garrus patted his rifle.

Shepard handed Liara a silencer for her SMG, fitting one onto his Valkyrie, he didn't want to fight off an army of Cerberus mechs and troops.

They climbed down onto the dam, they needed sniper cover because they were exposed.

"Have you got those codes?" Shepard whispered.

"Yes." Liara nodded.

"Stay close." Shepard moved ahead, rifle raised, Liara covered his back. It was heard to hear their footsteps over the rushing water as they crossed the narrow bridge.

"Not even a guardrail." Shepard muttered.

"No-one likes to follow safety regulations anymore." Liara guessed. "I wish I hadn't looked down now."

They moved quickly, keeping an eye out for guards.

"Where is everyone?" They heard Garrus talking to Randall over the radio.

"No shuttles have been here for a few hours." Randall told him. "I don't see any guards or mechs either."

"So it's either a trap," Garrus suggested, "or something is wrong here."

"Keep an eye out then." Shepard told them. "We're almost at the dam."

The bridge shook suddenly.

"I don't think that was meant to happen." Randall murmured unhelpfully.

The bridge shook again, Shepard heard the sound of metal being torn.

"Move!" He yelled, Liara sprinted ahead, towards the dam.

The bridge was collapsing, tilting towards the reservoir, a fall from this height would be like hitting a brick wall, never mind the decontamination systems in the reservoir.

The bridge began to fall just Liara grabbed the ladder that led up to the dam. Shepard yelled as he lost his footing and the bridge fell.

Liara grabbed his arm as the bridge fell out from under him, into the reservoir.

"Hang on!" She shouted.

"I'm trying!" Shepard grimaced, reaching out for the ladder with his other hand.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Garrus rattled off the profanities.

Shepard grabbed the ladder and found a foothold, Liara breathed a sigh of relief.

"Too close." She breathed. "Asari don't tend to get heart attacks but you nearly gave me one."

"What just happened?" Shepard asked. "Apart from Liara saving my skin again."

"No idea." Garrus replied. "The bridge just fell down and we're stuffed."

"Randall, where are those anti-air guns?"

"There's at least four," Randall recalled, "one in each corner."

"We'll take them offline, let you land in the shuttle." Shepard explained. "Bring in more of the squad, we're going to need them to secure the compound." He glanced at Liara and gestured for her to move.

Shepard climbed up onto the catwalk, Liara covered him. "We'll radio you when the guns are offline." Shepard told them. "Stay low for now."

"You got it, Shepard." Garrus confirmed.

Shepard turned to Liara. "We're on our own for now."

"It's not the first time." She smirked.

"True." Shepard took the lead again. The catwalk clanked under his boots, the dam was going to be tricky to climb, the wall were completely smooth and they had the water gates to get past. If it all went wrong, they'd get an unwanted shower and long drop. Liara timed the opening and closing of the gates carefully, they couldn't climb all the way in one go, nor did they want to, the plan was to infiltrate through the dam.

They fired the grapples up at the nearest gate and began to climb. It was slippery, their boots were made for military infiltration and that meant increased traction, but this was still difficult.

"I never had to do this at a dig site." Liara muttered.

"An N7 course might do you some good then." Shepard remarked.

"I follow you around." Liara pointed out. "An N7 course has nothing left to improve."

After a few minutes of climbing and hair raising slips, they made it into the dam.

"Garrus, Randall." Shepard called on his radio. "We're inside."

The radio buzzed with static.

"We must be within range of their jammer." Liara surmised.

"We really are on our own." Shepard raised his rifle. "Let's move."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The mission will be wrapped up in the next chapter, sorry about the infiltration, but I felt like leaving the script again.<strong>_


	24. No deal

"How long did you say we have?" Shepard inquired as they waded down the tunnel.

"About thirty minutes." Liara answered.

"Great." Shepard sighed. They were following one of the tunnels, and had thirty minutes to find a safer route before they were flushed out.

The water was up to their waists, the dam kept switching routes to send the water, they assumed that it was automated or controlled by a VI. Same thing really.

"There should be a maintenance tunnel nearby, they seal the doors when the tunnels flood." Liara explained.

"Good to know." Shepard had his rifle pointed at the floor, he doubted that any Cerberus troopers were inside the tunnel. "All we have to do is get there."

"There." Liara pointed at a hatch about half Shepard's height set into the wall. She opened it with her omni-tool and climbed inside. Shepard followed her in, the hatch sealed behind him.

"We're safe in _here_?" He grimaced.

"I think so." Liara said.

"Very reassuring." Shepard crawled behind her, standing was impossible and it was difficult to walk when crouched. He flicked his flashlight on. "Well, the view isn't bad." He remarked.

"Excuse me?" Liara queried, it took her a moment to understand. "Oh, very funny."

Shepard chuckled as he followed her, imagining the blush on her face, it was better than dwelling on the fact that they were in a confined space one button push away from being killed.

It took them about twenty minutes to find the hatch that led into the main passageways, they wouldn't be flooded. Liara crawled out, helping Shepard follow.

"You're going first next time." Liara told him.

"There's more than reason for that." Shepard smirked. "Isn't there?"

"Yes." Liara couldn't stop herself smiling, or blushing.

"Good." Shepard grinned before moving ahead and raising his rifle.

They followed the maze of tunnels for what felt like hours, the place was easy to get lost in. There wasn't much security, just a few mechs that they could avoid.

They made their way through the tunnels and out onto the wall. Liara closed the hatch behind them, ducking behind some crates to avoid a pair of ORCUS mechs on patrol.

They snuck towards the first anti-air gun. They had duck out of sight as two Cerberus snipers strolled round the gun, smoking cigarettes.

"Filthy habit." Shepard commented. "Wait for them to split up."

The two snipers did split up, one of them sat on a box and continued to smoke with his back to them. The other one walked a little further and looked out at the view.

"Take the one on the crate." Shepard instructed. "Quietly." He readied his omni-blade.

Liara nodded, activating her omni-blade.

Liara moved first, her target was closer, if Shepard went for his first then they'd be spotted and killed.

Liara had learnt a few tricks from Shepard. She pulled the sniper off the crate and stabbed the blade into his chest before he could cry out.

Shepard snuck up behind the other and slit his throat, throwing him over the railing and down into the valley below.

Liara dragged the other one over, took his datapad and let Shepard dispose of the body in the same way.

"Nice work." Shepard wiped the blood off his gauntlets. "What's on that?"

"A map, patrol routes and…" She tapped the button with a flourish. "Codes to shut down the AA guns."

"Better still." Shepard copied the codes onto his omni-tool. "I was planning on blowing them up."

* * *

><p>Garrus took another look through his scope, surveying the compound. They'd moved onto a hill that allowed them to look down into the compound.<p>

"Any sign?" James asked.

"As you humans say," Garrus didn't look away from the scope, "neither hide nor hair."

"He'll be fine." Ashley chewed on some rations. "He's got Liara with him."

"In my cycle we never encouraged bonding between soldiers." Javik remembered. "Yet it seems to make them more effective in battle."

"They rely on each other." Garrus agreed. "We all do, that's what a squad does."

"Squad." Javik considered. "A simple word, but there's more to it than teamwork."

"Hey, Garrus. At nine o'clock, just behind the compound." Randall pointed.

Garrus took a look through his scope. "It's a shuttle, small, with no markings." He stated. "It's not a Kodiak like the ones that we use, or Cerberus." He took another look. "No numbers either, it's incognito."

Their radios buzzed suddenly.

"…Can you hear us?" Shepard's voice was riddled with interference, but they could hear him.

"Somewhat." Garrus replied. "SITREP?"

"The AA guns are offline, we're going to open two routes to get you inside." Shepard explained. "Don't worry, we've got a diversion planned." Garrus' omni-tool beeped and he glanced at it, it was showing him two routes inside. "Let us know when your in position."

"Roger that." Garrus stood up. "Alright, Tali, Randall, you're with me. Ashley, you take Javik, Grunt and James." He told them. "I'll take the right entrance, you'll take the left, equip silencers." He handed Javik an Avenger, he doubted that the particle beam could be silenced. Javik took the assault rifle, loaded it like a pro and nodded.

They split up and moved towards the gates. Garrus just hoped that Shepard had a good diversion.

* * *

><p>"This should make them panic for a bit." Shepard lay the cables down.<p>

"Or it'll put them on full alert." Liara whispered.

"Relax." Shepard told her. "It'll just look like a glitch." He activated his omni-tool and entered a code, entering commands.

A loud speaker blared. "Alert; the radar jammer is down." A male voice with an Australian accent announced.. "Send squads three and five to investigate."

"Move." Shepard nudged Liara. They slipped away and took cover behind a low wall.

Four Cerberus troopers with ORCUS mechs for support appeared, walking towards the jammer.

"Well?" One of them demanded.

"No sign of damage." Another surveyed the device. "Must be a fault." He picked up the cables.

Shepard and Liara took aim and fired.

The two troopers dropped.

"Roy?" The third called.

Shepard put a bullet through his head, Liara took out the fourth. Before the mechs could respond, Shepard activated a kill code with his omni-tool, the mechs slumped and shut down.

"Good thing you picked up that datapad." Shepard murmured.

"How long till they notice?"

"Not long." Shepard reloaded his rifle. "But it's long enough for Garrus to arrive."

They moved down and waited for a few moments.

The gates opened and two teams moved in, staying low and in cover.

"Good old Garrus." Shepard smiled. "He's split the team up, they can cover each other."

The two teams began to silently take out Cerberus troopers, moving stealthily.

An alarm began to blare. The harsh sound filled the night as something exploded.

"Alert: Incoming hostiles!" Another loudspeaker yelled. "Unknown hostiles incoming!"

Shepard looked up and saw a swarm of Terrors and two Harvesters heading towards the base.

"Reapers." He hissed. "Shit!" He turned on his radio. "Forget stealth, this is going to get rough." He removed the silencer from his rifle, Liara did the same with her gun.

Shepard jumped down and opened fire on the husks that had landed in the courtyard. They were desperate to get inside, despite the automated turrets mowing them down in droves.

Shepard and Liara ran over to Garrus' position and took cover.

"It's all gone to hell." Garrus surmised.

"We need to rethink this." Shepard reloaded his rifle. "Get the others back to the shuttle, we'll take Randall, Javik and Tali with us."

"Sound plan." Garrus decided. "We'll need help with those guns."

"Ashley, James, Grunt." Shepard called. "Go and secure an EZ."

"Cover us!" Ashley shouted back.

Shepard opened fire, drawing the fire away from Ashley's group. Ashley shouted an order, her team ran out of the compound, firing as they went.

"What do you want us to do?" Randall asked.

"Take Liara and Tali, deactivate the turrets or find us another way inside." Shepard instructed. "Preferably the latter. I don't want those husks to follow us."

"We'll manage." Randall assured him. "Tali, Liara, stay close."

Randall moved over with his squad and waited for the signal.

Shepard gave his team instructions then nodded at Randall before opening fire in the turrets and husks, drawing their fire again.

Randall hurried round the other side and searched for another way inside.

"That leaves us to hold the line." Shepard explained.

"Kirrahe would have loved that." Garrus chuckled.

"Yeah." Shepard agreed, taking aim. "Good old Kirrahe."

The three of them kept the husks at bay, Javik switched to his beam rifle and began to cut swaths through the hordes of monsters.

"I hope Randall gets a move on." Garrus reloaded. "They're getting closer and bigger."

Shepard noticed a pair of Brutes lumbering towards them, he could Banshees screaming and could imagine Liara shivering at the sound. The screams certainly made him shiver.

"Keep on fighting!" Javik's call shook him out of his thoughts. "We cannot help them if we are dead."

"My thoughts exactly." Garrus agreed, scoring another headshot.

"For a bird's descendant," Javik appreciated, "you are certainly a good shot."

"So is the ape." Garrus remarked.

"I heard that." Shepard retorted, taking down another husk.

Their radios buzzed as the turrets stopped firing at them. "Follow the route we took." Randall instructed. "We'll get the turrets to cover you."

The turrets then adjusted their angles and opened fire on the husks, but avoided Shepard and his team altogether.

Shepard covered Garrus and Javik as they followed Randall's path, then he followed them, in through a side door.

Tali sealed it behind them. "I think you're out of shape, Garrus." She joked.

"I'll borrow some of Vega's weights when we return to the Normandy." Garrus shrugged. "What a mess though, I was enjoying the cloak and daggers work until these Reapers crashed the party."

"You and me both." Shepard agreed. "Where's Randall?"

"In a security station with Liara." Tali answered. "I'll take you to them."

* * *

><p>"Adjust the security to setting five." Randall ordered. "It'll buy us more time."<p>

Shepard strode into the security station as Liara and Randall hurried around dealing with the security.

"Ah, Tali." Randall waved the quarian over. "With all this Cerberus tech I needed you back here yesterday, you're that useful."

"She's never going to forget that." Garrus muttered. "She'll be bouncing for ages."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Randall asked. "We'll have to stay here and sort out security, it's in one hell of a mess right now."

"We need to find whoever's running this place," Shepard told him, "and whatever's going on here."

"I think this can answer some questions." Liara gestured at a console. "Security footage." She turned it on so that Shepard could see. "They were luring the colonists here for something."

"That's never a good thing when it comes to Cerberus." Garrus murmured.

"There's more." Liara tapped in a few commands. Shepard saw a dark haired woman running through the facility being hounded by Cerberus mechs.

"No wonder security was light." He grimaced. "Miranda's been keeping them busy."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Jacob turned up too." Tali added. "We've had a lot of unexpected guests today."

"Alright then." Shepard shouldered his rifle. "Liara, Garrus, you're with me. Javik, Tali, you stay with Randall and help him out. Keep him safe."

"I can do that." Javik nodded.

"Sort out the security as we move through the complex." Shepard instructed. "Keep the husks out too."

"Got it." Randall didn't look from the consoles. "Get going, we'll handle things here."

* * *

><p>Shepard glanced round the corner at the thick alloy shutter in their way, it was built to withstand tanks, so they'd have no luck with small arms fire and grenades.<p>

"We're at the first security shutter." Shepard spoke quietly into his radio. "Corridor one-F."

"I can see you through the cameras." Tali told them. "Hold on." She was silent for a few moments. "Damn."She hissed. "Cerberus has got some fancy system, I can only open one shutter at a time, and then only in certain places." She explained. "You'd need someone at the other security stations to open some of the shutters."

"How many stations are there?" Shepard asked.

"Four." Tali replied. "Only the director has full override, if I was him, surrounded by husks and intruders, I'd seal all of the shutters."

"Crap." Garrus shook his head.

"Wait, how far did Miranda get before the lockdown?" Liara inquired.

"Hmm." Tali murmured. "She was in corridor five-R the last time I looked."

"Can you contact her?"

"Let me see, I don't know what frequency she's using." Tali said. "But I can try and attract her attention to a computer that I can send a message to."

"Give it a shot." Shepard glanced down the corridor. "Can you get this shutter open at least, I've got a bad feeling about this place."

"Just a second." Tali told them. "There."

The shutter clanked open, the squad hurried through before it closed again, their bots echoed on the sterile white floors in the deserted corridor.

"Shepard?" Liara whispered. "Have you noticed something?"

"That Cerberus has weird security?" Shepard replied. "Lots of security too."

"The place is deserted though." Liara pointed out. "Where is everyone?"

Their radios buzzed, someone was cutting into their frequency.

"Hello?" A woman's voice with an Australian accent called. "Can you hear me?"

"Miranda?" Shepard asked.

"Thank God!" She breathed. "I thought that was a Cerberus trap, messages kept appearing on the computers telling me to use this frequency." She paused. "Listen, you're either stupid or crazy."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"My father found Oriana, he kidnapped her." Miranda explained. "He works here, for the Illusive Man."

"This place is deserted, apart from the husks and the guards locked outside."

"I've only run into mechs." Miranda told them. "Something's happened here. They've been taking thousands of people but I haven't seen any of them."

"How did you get past the shutters?"

"I had help." Miranda explained. "Jacob is at one of the security stations with a bunch of mechs we hacked. I'll tell him to switch frequencies so you can talk."

"Thanks." Shepard acknowledged. "And good luck."

"You too, Commander."

Shepard gestured for his team to form up and took the lead, walking down the empty corridor with his rifle raised.

"I should have guessed." Garrus muttered. "A man with an Australian accent calling the shots and Miranda is here, of course she'd be here for her sister."

Shepard noticed a standard door on their left, he gestured at them to take up positions.

Liara and Shepard flanked the door, Garrus moved in and hit the panel, stepping back into cover.

The door slid open, Garrus stayed outside to cover them as the other two moved in.

It looked like a locker room, with a table and chairs in the middle. There were cards on the table and cans of soft drinks.

"Looks like they just got up and left in the middle of a card game." Liara murmured.

Shepard checked the lockers, keeping his rifle ready. They were all full of belongings, uniforms and thermal clips. He found one or two weapons in some of them.

"They also left their gear inside." He shut the last locker with a full suit of Cerberus armour still inside. "They're on maximum alert and they've just left."

"Tali, how many cameras have you got?" Liara radioed.

"A few, some of them are controlled from other stations," Tali answered, "some of them are broken."

"As in faulty?" Liara asked. "Or smashed?"

"I think the latter." Tali replied. "According to the computer, there aren't any faults."

"This is just getting better and better." Garrus muttered. "What next? Zombies?"

"Too many late night horror vids, Garrus?" Tali asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Cerberus was messing around with the dead."

Shepard and Liara left the room and carried on moving down the corridor, Garrus followed them.

The emptiness of the place was unsettling, they couldn't even hear the distant gunfire.

Tali got them past some more shutters, things became more disturbing after that.

"Take a look at this." Garrus removed the cover from a water cooler.

"That's Reaper tech." Shepard frowned at the piece of machinery attached to the water tank. "They were poisoning their own people."

"But what for?" Liara wondered.

"We'll find out." Shepard murmured. "Soon, I think."

Shepard led them down the next corridor and into a large open area. It was too dark to see anything, they turned their flashlights on.

"Oh." Garrus breathed. "I guess we know where they all went."

"Goddess!" Liara exclaimed. "This is horrible!"

That was understatement.

The place was filled with sealed cubicles big enough for a human to stand in, inside each one was an operating table with a body on each one.

Mechanical arms were moving around and slicing into the bodies, cutting them open and placing Reaper implants inside.

"Shepard?" Tali called. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah." Shepard swallowed. "We've found the refugees, they're being experimented on, implanted with Reaper tech. They were indoctrinated by contaminated water."

"Like Inali." Randall murmured.

"Who?" Tali asked.

"Inali was my handler." Randall explained. "Cerberus turned her into a monster."

"Shepard." Garrus waved him over. Shepard looked into a cubicle with a husk inside, the incisions were still fresh, it was throwing itself against the glass in a futile effort to escape. "They're tuning these people into husks."

"What for?" Liara was trying to keep the vomit down. "Why would they do this?"

"There's no reason good enough." Randall told her. "But I'd guess that they want to find some Reaper secrets."

"Maybe that's why the Reapers are here." Garrus suggested. "Cerberus must have hit a nerve."

It was difficult to leave the room, turning your back on a husk was a nasty way to die. Garrus covered their six, just in case.

So Cerberus had lured all of those refugees to Sanctuary, indoctrinated them and then somehow made them go willingly to their deaths.

It reminded Shepard of Freedom's Progress, when people had seemingly got up and left in the middle of dinner.

* * *

><p>It took them half-an-hour to get into the tower, where Miranda had apparently gone.<p>

"Shepard, Miranda's been out of contact for a while now." Randall told him. "I though I saw Kai Leng in the facility, so you'd better hurry."

The lift stopped and they stepped out into a lab of some kind.

"Shepard," Liara had noticed an active console, and the latest data file. "You need to see this."

Shepard took a look at the data on the screen, it was a log made by Henry Lawson, Miranda's father.

The log detailed the reasons for turning people into husks, they were trying to control them. The Prothean VI from Thessia had apparently been crucial.

More to the point, Lawson had succeeded, he had created a signal that could, if applied to a powerful transmitter, control Reapers.

"That explains why people just went to their deaths." Shepard realised. "They can control the indoctrinated too."

"Could this be used with the Signal?" Garrus wondered. "Could we control the Reapers?"

"We'll discuss that later." Shepard took the data from the console.

As they approached the next door, Shepard could hear shouting. With Australian accents.

They opened the door and walked in with their weapons raised.

A shot pinged off the wall a breath away from Shepard's head.

"Stay back!" A balding man holding a handgun and a woman hostage yelled. He had his back to a floor to ceiling window that looked out over the compound.

"About time, Shepard." Miranda had a gun of her own pointed at the man, she was holding her side and bleeding.

"Shut up!" Henry Lawson spat. "I'm leaving and I'm taking Oriana with me."

"No you're not!" Miranda retorted.

"Easy, Miranda." Shepard advised, he had a knack for this kind of situation. "We can make a deal."

Miranda scowled at her father, but allowed Shepard to do the talking.

"A shame that Kai Leng didn't manage to kill you." Henry Lawson glared at Miranda. "I might finish the job though."

"No-one needs to die here." Shepard reasoned. "Just let Oriana go, and you can walk away."

"You ask for a lot."

"You get to live." Shepard continued. "Miranda gets her sister back, everyone's happy."

"Almost." Miranda growled.

Her father considered his options. "Fine, take Oriana." He shoved the woman away. "Now, about our deal…"

"No deal!" Miranda yelled, throwing a biotic attack at him.

Henry Lawson screamed as he was throw out of the window and to his death below.

Miranda limped over to her sister and embraced her. Make that three reunions.

"Miri, you're hurt!" Oriana noticed the blood.

"It's just a flesh wound." Miranda assured her. "I was prepared for Leng."

"What have you found?" Shepard noticed Garrus hacking Henry Lawson's personal computer.

"Lots." Garrus grinned. "Including the coordinates to a Cerberus station, a sort of genetics lab."

"The Barn." Randall interrupted. "I know that place, I have a score to settle there."

"Joker, send in the shuttles." Shepard instructed, looking out at the bloodied compound and thinking of the countless lives lost within. "I've had enough of this place."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next is The Barn, then things get hectic, about two or three chapters left. <strong>_

_**Sorry if this took a while or is a bit ambiguous, but I hit writer's block and just decided to get on with it.**_


	25. Vengeance

The Normandy was following the coordinates gathered on Horizon, approved by Randall.

The Barn was a station in a far off system, according to Randall, Cerberus tested out biological weapons there, mutants. They'd asked Hackett for a pair of light cruisers in case they needed the firepower, Hackett had sent them three cruisers, two frigates and four fighter squadrons.

Good old Hackett, he clearly understood the need to take Cerberus down.

"I used to gather aliens for Cerberus." Randall explained on the shuttle as he loaded his rifle. "No offence." He added.

"None taken." Liara said.

"What do you recommend?" Shepard asked.

"The Barn was in chaos when I left, Cerberus must have got it up and running again." He said. "We should split into teams."

"Alright, you can take Garrus and James with you." Shepard told him. "I'll take Liara and Grunt. The others can defend the shuttles when we land."

"Sounds good." Randall nodded. "The Normandy can take care of the fighters."

The two shuttles flew in with the Normandy, the frigates and the fighters in front, Joker opened fire on the Cerberus fighters, ripping them apart and easily avoiding their shots. The three cruisers took aim and fired their mass accelerator cannons at the bigger ships, taking them unawares and blasting them to pieces.

The two shuttles flew into the hanger bay, opening the doors and allowing the squads to unleash a storm of bullets on the mechs and troops in the hanger bay.

Shepard jumped out of the shuttle, along with his team and Randall's.

"Ashley, keep Javik and Tali with you." Shepard ordered. "Defend the shuttles."

"Okay, Commander." Ashley nodded.

"What are we looking for?" Shepard asked Randall.

"The Director," Randall answered, "don't worry, I'll let you interrogate him before I kill him." He assured the Commander. "Failing that, any information we can scavenge, then we blow this place to hell and further."

"Excellent." Grunt chuckled.

"Let's move out." Shepard gathered his team and took one route, Randall took the other. If this worked, the Director would have nowhere to run and they could find out where Cerberus was hiding.

* * *

><p>Shepard's group entered the first corridor, destroying the mechs that tried to stop them.<p>

"Worthless." Grunt kicked the dismembered head of one away.

"Don't get too carried away." Shepard warned him. "We need the Director alive."

"As long as I get to kill everything else."

"That's fine."

Grunt nodded and reloaded his shotgun.

Cerberus was putting up a fight, and wasting a lot of mechs on them.

"Shepard, it's Randall." Randall radioed. "We're running into heavy resistance, nothing we can't handle though."

"Same here." Shepard shot another mech.

"The Director _has _to be here."

"We'll find him." Shepard assured him. "Stay focused."

Liara riddled an ORCUS with bullets, Grunt grabbed another one and ripped it in half. Shepard leant round cover and put a shot through the head of the last one.

"We're clear." he gestured for them to move. "Go, search and destroy."

"Now you're talking!" Grunt laughed.

They moved quickly, killing anything that stood in their way, they didn't want to give the Director a chance to run.

Liara noticed some scalpels left for disposal on a trolley, stained with orange, blue-black and purple.

"Whatever they're doing here needs to stop." She murmured.

"We're blowing this place up when we're done." Shepard assured her. "We're taking Cerberus down, along with the Reapers."

* * *

><p>By the time they had reached the labs, Joker had taken out the Cerberus fighters and Ashley had secured the hanger bay. Randall was making good progress too.<p>

Garrus kept an eye on the corners as they moved, everything was at right angles, that made it easier for enemies to hide.

"What did you say this place was again?" He asked.

"They researched aliens and mutations." Randall answered. "Bioweapons."

"That explains the organs." Garrus gestured at some jars filled with vitals that were not human.

Randall paused and gestured for them to stop. He pointed at the door ahead.

Garrus listened carefully. He could hear what sounded like growling.

The door shot open and a pair of Marauders ran out firing their weapons.

James took aim and mowed them down with his machine gun, the two husks fell with fewer limbs and less blood.

"Now we know what they're up to." Randall fired a shot into the twitching one. "They're making more husks, not just human ones."

"To test out their control on." Garrus surmised. "This is just getting crazier."

* * *

><p>Shepard and his team had encountered husks too, they had come to the same conclusion as Grunt curb-stomped a Devil's head.<p>

"If they can find a way to control the Reapers," Shepard shook his head, "we're done for."

"With these husks they could make an army." Liara added. "All they need to do is poison a world's water supply, indoctrinate the people and then take control of them." She shivered. "It could be any world, Earth, Palaven, Thessia, they might even hit Tuchanka."

"An army of husks from all species." Shepard finished. "Just like the Reapers."

"Goddess." Liara breathed. "Cerberus is even more of a monster than we thought."

"Well then." Grunt brushed the gore of his arms. "We'd better get shooting then."

It sounded like a good idea.

Shepard took point and lead them onwards, towards an airlock.

"Helmets on." He instructed, sealing his own in place. "Make sure your armour is sealed."

They stepped out onto the surface, the Barn was built into an asteroid, the com's array was on the outside.

Randall had told them to disable it before Cerberus called for help, he'd take care of the defence systems.

"Over here." Shepard led them to the tower and accessed the controls. "Damn it! Cerberus has put up enhanced security, this is going to take some time." He removed the panel. "I'll rewire it, see if I can shut it down the old fashioned way."

"We'll cover you." Liara assured him.

"Thanks." Shepard nodded. He began to examine the wires, he checked each one with his omni-tool, electrocution was a bad way to go after such a career. He selected one of the wires and severed it.

A red light began to blink on the panel hanging next to him from its hinges. He'd cut power to the FTL com, now they could only send messages to places in the system, but he wanted the array completely offline.

He found two more wires and cut them, more lights blinked on the panel. Now he had access to the main system, he took the panel and began to work on it with his omni-tool.

Perfect; the array was completely offline, they'd need to reboot the system and that would take hours. He'd just wiped all of their com' data, they wouldn't be talking for a while, even of they repaired the array.

"Incoming!" Grunt shouted. "I think they noticed." His shotgun boomed as Shepard took cover and opened fire on the ORCUS mechs heading their way.

* * *

><p>"Alert; communications array is offline." A synthesised voice announced.<p>

"That's Shepard's handiwork." Garrus smiled. "All we've got to do is take out their defences."

"That might be harder." Randall told him. "That voice we just heard is an AI called UDI, like EDI but not as bright."

"Damn right she isn't." Joker muttered.

"Stay off this frequency, Joker." James sighed. "We call you when we want something."

"Shutting up." Joker left the com'.

Randall led them towards the AI core, following his route when he had been trying to escape the station.

After fighting their way through more Cerberus mechs, Randall took them into the service ducts and led them down into a large, dark room.

"I think this is it." Randall murmured. He noticed the glowing blue orb above them in a glass sphere with wires and pipes trailing out into machinery and computers. "Yeah, this it. Allow me to introduce you to UDI, now we've got to shut her up."

"Alert; intruders are present in the AI core." UDI declared. "Activating security protocols."

Two compartments opened and a pair of OGRE mechs stomped out.

"Get down!" Randall shouted, running behind one of the supercomputers for cover.

The OGRE mechs opened fire with pulse guns, the supercomputers and machines were heavily shielded, the pulse weapons wouldn't scratch them.

Garrus used his omni-tool to overload the shields of one, James opened fire on it with incendiary rounds, burning through its armour.

Randall resorted to his arsenal of biotic attacks for the other mech.

"Go for their heads!" Garrus yelled. "It might damage the AI too."

"Don't bet on it." Randall shouted as he fired more shots. "That shielding is way too good."

"Then aim for their heads to kill them quickly!"

James unloaded another clip and blew the arms of the mech. The mech could glare at him as he reloaded and blew its head off, making its core go critical.

The explosion hit the other mech and ripped it in half, scattering shrapnel everywhere.

"Two in one!" James whooped.

"Alert; OGRE class mechs destroyed." UDI stated. "Preparing to deploy countermeasure one-fifteen."

"I take it that this countermeasure is bad for out health?" Garrus guessed.

"Yeah," Randall confirmed, "one-fifteen is nerve gas, helmets won't stop it."

"Then we need to kill this thing and fast." Garrus glanced at the AI core. "Ideas?"

"Just one, and it's crazy." Randall turned on his radio. "Normandy, I'm sending you some coordinates, I want you to launch an EMP missile at it."

"We're kind of busy here." Joker argued. "Wait, what was that?" It sounded like he was talking to someone. "Teriss is on her way, hang on."

* * *

><p>"Shepard, you might want to keep your helmets on and grab something that's bolted down." Randall warned them. "I've asked for an EMP missile, it's that or death by gas."<p>

"The AI must run the life support and gravity too." Liara guessed.

"You heard him." Shepard checked the helmet seal. "Keep your buckets on and hold onto something."

They sealed the airlock behind them and hung onto the safety rails.

"This is crazy." Liara groaned.

"Everything we do is crazy." Shepard added.

"This is Talon." Teriss radioed. "Firing missile in five seconds, hold onto your spines. Five, four, three, two, one. Missile away!"

The station didn't shake, but the alarms started then failed and the lights went off. Shepard also felt weightless, like he was back in training with the N7 commandos in zero-g simulators or swimming pools.

"Krogan don't do floating." Grunt muttered, the only one who wasn't starting to drift.

"Save your air," Shepard told them, "only talk if necessary."

"Commander, the AI is down." Randall informed them. "We'll try and bring the backups online."

"What about the Director?" Shepard felt his stomach drop as he realised. "Won't he be killed?"

"He'll be in his panic room." Randall explained, easing Shepard's worries. "He'll be breathing, his friends won't."

Shepard floated forwards and opened the airlock, a dead scientist drifted into the airlock, dead from asphyxiation. Shepard used the wall to guide himself past, it was eerily quiet, all the systems were offline and that included the mechs.

Shepard was aware of Grunt half bouncing, half floating behind him, Liara was copying his technique for moving in zero-g.

"This is making me feel queasy." Liara muttered.

"Try not to throw up." Shepard advised. "It's really unpleasant in a helmet."

"Thanks." Liara gulped. "I think."

They continued on their silent way down the corridors, passing bodies and deactivated mechs on the way.

Something thumped against the window on their left, Shepard heard Liara gasp.

If Cerberus wanted to make his gorge rise, or make him hate them even more, then this was the place to be.

The severed arm left a purple blotch on the window, droplets floated around the room, the amputation was recent.

He could see the body of an asari strapped to an operating table, the automated surgical equipment had died with the lack of power, one blade was stuck in the asari's chest, the other had been slicing into the scalp, perhaps they had been removing the cartilage to gain access to the brain. He didn't really want to think about it.

Looking to his right, he could see a quarian in the same state. He'd only seen Tali without her mask on, whilst quarians looked similar to humans, this one didn't anymore. He was covered in implants that looked like Reaper tech.

In the next few labs were different alien species, a dead salarian, a dead elcor. There was a fully converted turian in one room.

It gave them a shock when it punched the glass, it was only then that Shepard remembered that husks didn't need oxygen, if there was anything similar to the old horror-vid zombies, then husks were it.

"Class four security glass." Shepard reassured Liara, he could see her wide eyed shock though her visor. "They'd need a cannon to get out."

"It's not that." Liara murmured. "All these dead people, we did this. When we used that EMP missile."

"Cerberus killed them, Liara." Shepard gestured at the dead volus in the opposite room. "They would either have become husks or died without the life support, I think the latter is a mercy."

Liara swallowed, the sound was audible over the com'. "Okay." She shivered.

He wished that he could have given her a reassuring smile, but all she could see was his eyes through the helmet's visor.

They floated into a deserted canteen, drinks drifted past as globules that couldn't help but remind Shepard of the test subjects in the labs. Cerberus scientists had eaten their meals here whilst people had died in agony just a few rooms away.

"Randall here." The radio crackled. "Gravity and life support is coming on… now."

The lights turned on, so did the gravity. Shepard hit the floor, he heard Liara curse as she fell face first on one of the tables.

"You alright?" He asked instinctively, almost panicking when he saw a smear of blood on her visor. "There's air, you can take the helmet off." Shepard pulled off his helmet.

Liara tugged hers off and wiped the blood off her face, blood was running from a gash on her forehead. Shepard dispensed a little medi-gel, enough to seal the wound and stop the bleeding.

"Thanks." She half smiled. "It isn't my lucky day."

"Hang on." Randall cautioned. "Damn it!" Shepard heard gunfire over the radio. "We're fine, but the backups have brought the mechs back online, the husks are getting loose too."

Shepard heard sickly growling coming from the exit to the canteen.

"I think we've got the same problem." Shepard shook his head and gestured for Liara and Grunt to take up positions. "Keep moving, we'll regroup at the panic room."

"Copy that."

Shepard tipped one of the tables onto its side and took cover behind it. "Liara, whip them up with a singularity." He instructed. "I'll pick off the stragglers. Grunt, you do what you do best."

"Let them come." Grunt racked a round into the chamber. "I'm ready to hurt something."

* * *

><p>Garrus sprinted after Randall and James, aware of the husks chasing them. There was a Hunter with them too, sniper rounds kept whizzing past and narrowly missing them.<p>

"Can't keep this up forever!" Garrus shouted, turning briefly to fire at the husks.

"Here!" Randall opened the next door and waved them in. "Get inside!"

Once Garrus had thrown himself through the door, Randall sealed it behind them.

"Phew!" Garrus panted as he stood up. "More running than expected."

"Get in shape." James smirked.

"I am in shape." Garrus protested. "I'm just better at shooting than running."

"Settle down, you two." Randall told them, examining the door panel. "This should hold for a while. But they'll probably find another way."

"Can't we lock them out or gas them?" James asked.

"That was UDI's job." Randall shook his head. "No, we need to get the Director fast, interrogate him faster, set the self destruct really quickly and then get out like our backsides are lightning."

Garrus reloaded his rifle. "Sounds like the average day on Omega." He remarked.

"Alright then, greased lightning." Randall gestured down the corridor. "You go first."

Garrus nodded and took the lead, keeping an eye on the corners and his rifle up.

The station, apart from the husks, was still very quiet. Most of the Cerberus operatives were dead and UDI was offline, along with the main power grid.

Garrus waved James forwards into the next room, taking the right side, Randal took the left as James took the centre.

"Clear." James declared.

"Form up." Garrus instructed, holding up a clenched fist.

Randall hacked into the control panel and opened the door into the next room.

They emerged into a large area with what looked like a dull alloy box from floor to ceiling at the end.

"There it is." Randall pointed at the box. "That armour is meant to withstand an M290 Cain, the shielding can take even more."

"Cerberus must have spent an arm and a leg on this." James murmured.

"They may have done." Randall shrugged. "They've been known to trade organs on the black market. You know how a full set of krogan testicles is worth forty-thousand credits? Double that for drell lungs."

"Jesus!" James shook his head. "That's enough to buy a YMIR mech."

"Exactly." Randall gestured at the box. "We're not getting in using brute force, but we're getting in."

"You sound sure of that."

"I _will _get in." Randall growled. "I _will _kill him." He noticed James' frown. "After Shepard's done talking to him of course."

"Don't worry." Garrus patted his shoulder. "I don't personally see killing as revenge, not after what Shepard taught me, but I can understand."

"So what do we do now?" James asked, checking his thermal clips.

"We wait for Shepard." Randall answered. "We're going to need some help."

* * *

><p>Shepard was busy, he was in trouble again.<p>

"Any time today!" Liara shouted over the gunfire.

"Nah, take your time." Grunt fired his shotgun into another Marauder. "I'm having fun."

"I'm trying!" Shepard shouted back, one locked door between them and relative safety.

He finally found the right code. "Got it!" He stood up and gave them covering fire. "Inside!"

Grunt charged into the next room, Liara ran after, grabbed Shepard and yanked him inside, sealing the door behind them.

"You're getting assertive." Shepard remarked.

"That Stinger was closer than you thought." Liara told him, gesturing at the quivering tentacle stuck in the door.

"Let's not stick around." Shepard popped the empty clip out of his rifle. "We're close to the panic room, I hope."

They emerged into the same room as Randall, spotting his team trying to find some way into the panic room.

"Any luck?" Shepard called as they ran over.

"No." James answered. "And there's a shit load of husks on our tails."

"So have we." Liara added.

"How we getting inside this?" Shepard gestured at the alloy box.

"No idea." Randall admitted. "Yet."

Shepard considered, he couldn't even see a door in the structure. "Explosives?"

"Have you got that many Cains going spare?"

"No." Shepard shook his head. "Hacking?"

"Once it's occupied and sealed, only the person on the inside can open it." Randall scowled at the box. "He's probably laughing at us."

Shepard sighed, they'd ended up a laughing stock, it was going to take a lot of finesse to flush him out.

Or one really crazy idea.

"I've got an idea." Shepard announced. "But it's crazy."

"Better than nothing." Garrus shrugged.

"How does he get out of that thing?" Shepard asked. "Are there escape pods?"

"If there were, he'd have gone already." Randall replied.

"Alright then." Shepard glanced at his team, wondering if they'd run away when he announced his plan. "We're going to set of the self destruct and flush him out."

They all paused, staring at him.

"That might work." Liara agreed. "This Director sounds like a man who values his life above all else."

"The self destruct also opens _all _doors." Randall added. "Unfortunately, that'll leave us with all those husks."

"And if we take long…" Garrus paused for effect. "We all learn how long it really takes for us to end up flash frozen in space, or we get blown to pieces."

"We can't sit here forever." James shrugged. "It's not a foolproof plan, but it's a plan."

Randall glowered at the box. "We'll do it." He decided. "It's the only way."

"Right." Shepard nodded. "Who wants to stay?"

"I'll stay." Liara didn't hesitate.

"Same here." Garrus hefted his rifle onto his shoulder.

"Someone needs to activate the self destruct." James grimaced. "I guess that's Grunt and I."

"You get to fight your way back to the shuttles." Shepard reasoned. "I was hoping that would appeal to you two." He gestured at Liara and Garrus.

"You died, that didn't stop us." Garrus grinned.

"And I'm not leaving you, Shepard." Liara vowed.

Shepard sighed. "We're all insane." He murmured. "James, Grunt. Activate the self destruct then run to the shuttles."

"What about you?" James was concerned, he didn't want to leave them, neither did Grunt.

"We'll try to make it back." Shepard couldn't think of anything better to say.

"You'd better, Loco." James told him firmly.

"Don't want to kill Reapers without my Battlemaster." That was about as sentimental as Grunt had ever been. "Fight well, Shepard."

The two of them ran off down to find the self destruct.

Shepard checked his clip and glanced at Liara. She wasn't afraid, but it was scary, seeing how devoted she was.

But now that he thought about it, he realised that he'd do the same for her.

* * *

><p>A harsh alarm began to wail, the self destruct was active.<p>

A panel about the size of a man slid to reveal an opening.

The Director tried to flee, only to be hit in the stomach and face with Randall's rifle and shoved him back inside.

The man slumped against his chair, blood running from his broken nose.

Randall stood over him, breathing heavily and about a twitch away from pulling the trigger.

Shepard put a hand on his shoulder, Randall relented and stepped back. He could hear gunfire, Liara and Garrus were holding off the husks, Randall went to join them.

"Where is the Illusive Man?" Shepard asked calmly.

"Out of your league." The Director spat blood on Shepard's boots.

"I asked you nicely." Shepard pointed his pistol at the man's head. "Where is he?"

"Fuck you!" The Director spat.

"You tell me now, you might get to live."

"You brought Enzo with you," he rasped, "he'll kill me."

"Warning; five minutes left until detonation." A VI announced.

"We'll go down together, Commander." The Director sneered. "Your fight ends here."

"I'm here for Earth." Shepard growled. "Not for revenge." He lowered the gun. "Wouldn't you like to know that your help saved Earth?"

The Director paused, clearly rattled.

"Cerberus has been _helping _the Reapers." Shepard continued. "If they'd wanted to stop them, destroy them for good, then they could have helped us. But they've left Earth to die."

"I don't want to die!" The Director hissed. "But if I must, you'll die with me."

Randall swore and stepped past Shepard, looking for something on the desk.

He pressed a glowing red button.

"Self destruct paused." The VI declared.

"Now you have to talk." Randall growled. "As long as my hand is on this button, oblivion has to take a back seat."

The Director grimaced and swore. "Then you'll just have to wait."

"Then so will Earth." Shepard stated, folding his arms.

The Director broke then, he began to shake and shook his head. "Noveria." He breathed. "He's got a stronghold on Noveria, near his main base. The coordinates are L45-L23."

"That wasn't so hard now," Randall smiled, "was it?"

"Piss off." The Director spat. "We'll all die here soon."

"Get going, Shepard." Randall nodded. "I'll give you time."

"But that means…" Shepard began to protest.

"Yes." Randall murmured. "It does." He looked up at Shepard, actually looking emotional. "But hey, I get to see Inali again, all my friends. Or so I hope." He glared at the Director. "And I get to take this bastard with me." He looked up again. "You don't want to leave Liara on her own, do you?"

Shepard sighed. "I'll make sure you're remembered, Randall." He promised.

"You're the hero, Shepard." Randall smirked. "Go and be one."

Shepard began to turn away.

"And Shepard," Randall called, "when you find the Illusive Man, give him a bullet or two from me." He chuckled. "It's been an honour, Shepard."

Shepard extended his hand, Randall shook it.

It had been an odd but invaluable alliance, now Randall was saving his life, again.

But this was what he wanted.

Shepard gathered his friends and ran for the shuttles.

If he survived this, then he doubted that he could carry on with the same job, too many friends had died.

* * *

><p>Shepard radioed when he had made it to safety.<p>

Randall took his hand off the button and savoured the last few breaths.

"I thought you said you'd shoot me." The Director wheezed.

Randall considered. "Yeah." He pulled out his pistol and put a bullet in the Director's head. "I did."

* * *

><p>Shepard watched from the Normandy's cockpit as the Barn exploded, Randall and the Director were vaporised with it.<p>

Noveria was next, Shepard would not rest until the Reapers were defeated.

But if he survived, then…

No, he had to survive first, him and his friends. His remaining friends.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry about Randall, but there always going to be some sadness in this story. At least he got what he wanted and the Director got his just deserves. <strong>_

_**Next up is Noveria, then things **_**really **_**hit the fan.**_


	26. God Eater

_**Things will hit the fan in this chapter, it will be longer than usual, I'm kind of doing two in one here.**_

_**Please be patient, I'm having computer problems so I may be slow to upload.**_

_**Note: I called this chapter "God Eater" because Cronos tried to eat his children in the Greek Myths. **_

* * *

><p>Liara could hear the snow whipping against the shuttle's hull as they flew in. Shepard was going for stealth again, but only to take the anti-air guns offline, then they'd go in guns blazing.<p>

Glancing at the map, she saw a familiar place. Peak 15.

The place where her mother had died.

Liara put those thoughts away for another time, they had work to do and a friend to avenge.

"Thirty seconds out." Cortez called from the cockpit.

Shepard checked his rifle and slotted a silencer in place. "Tali, Ash. Are you ready?"

"Ready and willing." Ashley loaded her weapon.

"Good to go." Tali confirmed.

"Twenty seconds." Cortez was going by instruments, the blizzard was that bad.

Garrus was busy adjusting the heavy turret they had installed in the shuttle, it didn't score points for passenger comfort but it had firepower.

"Need a hand, Garrus?" Tali asked sweetly.

"Fixing guns is one of specialties." Garrus told her. "Synthetics are yours."

"Fair enough." Tali shrugged, subtly pushing a switch Garrus had missed.

"Ten seconds." Cortez called.

Shepard put his helmet on, the others did the same. The temperatures were well below freezing, frostbite was a major issue, so was hypothermia.

"Five seconds." The shuttle began to slow down. "We're landing now."

The shuttle touched down on the ledge, Shepard opened the doors. Snow whipped inside and flew around the shuttle.

"Shepard." Liara called before he stepped out. "Be careful."

"We'll be back." Shepard assured her. "Keep out of range of their guns, Cortez."

"Will do, Commander." Cortez radioed as the shuttle took off. "Good luck."

Shepard moved towards an outcropping and knelt down, his team gathered around him. Shepard turned on his omni-tool and looked at the holographic map of the fortress, it was based on what they had seen from orbit, refined by EDI.

"There are four heavy anti-air guns." Shepard pointed at them. "Along with approximately six SAM batteries."

"This might take some time." Ashley muttered.

"I wasn't planning on shutting them down one-by-one." Shepard explained. "We're doing this the old fashioned way, we're going to blow them up." He pointed at another area of the compound. "This is their mech depot, according to EDI, we can hijack some of their ATLAS mechs, maybe hack some of the heavies to turn on them."

"I can do that." Tali sounded like she was grinning. "Easily."

"Good thing we brought you along then." Ashley nodded.

"We'll go in through here." Shepard continued. "Through the hanger, we'll move into the depot as quickly and quietly as we can and grab some firepower." He looked up at them. "Are you ready?"

"Hell yes!" Ashley patted her rifle.

"Count on it." Tali agreed.

* * *

><p>They moved in through the hanger doors before they closed. It was one of the few cases where they had good timing, a Cerberus shuttle had flown in just as they arrived.<p>

They hid underneath the catwalk and watched the shuttle unload. Labour mechs were carrying boxes marked with biohazard symbols, escorted by ORCUS mechs and two troopers.

Ashley glanced at Shepard, a look that showed wariness. She was just as irked by the biohazard warnings.

Was this place another Barn, or something else?

Whatever it was, it was going down too.

Nevertheless, Shepard gestured at her to hold fire, they weren't ready for a fight yet.

They waited for the guards to clear out before they climbed onto the catwalk and crept out of the hanger bay.

Cerberus wasn't expecting an attack, but this was a fortress, they were prepared for a full scale assault.

That gave Shepard an advantage though, they weren't expecting a stealth attack that took out their defences, _then _a full blown attack.

They slipped past more defences, even the weapon's detector was unable to stop them, thanks to Tali.

They emerged into the centre, an open space full of soldiers, gunships and weapons.

"Use the blizzard." Shepard told them. "Stay out of sight."

They managed to sneak past more Cerberus troopers, into the depot.

Tali closed the shutters behind them. Shepard and Ashley moved in, slotted the guards silently then clambered into the ATLAS mechs.

Tali found the mech control station and switched their IFFs to register Shepard and his team as allies, Cerberus would show up as enemies.

"That should cause some chaos." Tali commented as she climbed into an ATLAS.

"Good work, Tali." Shepard told her. "Let's go, the AA guns are priority but don't get killed."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Skipper." Ashley remarked.

Alarms began to blare as they left the depot, the mechs were already causing havoc. Cerberus was completely unprepared for that, they relied on their mechs.

Shepard took aim at the first AA gun and fired a missile at it, destroying it. Tali and Ashley copied his example and took out the others, that just left the SAM batteries.

Shepard checked the ATLAS' computer and located the SAM batteries, they were all inside the centre, relatively close together. Excellent, Cerberus had made a blunder.

Shepard informed his team about the SAMs, located the first one and opened fire, blasting the missile launcher to pieces.

Tali began to direct the combat mechs, sending them to take out the other batteries.

"Incoming Hammerhead!" Ashley warned them.

Shepard turned the ATLAS around and fired the cannon, hitting the Hammerhead's right thruster and bringing it down.

"The SAM batteries are history!" Tali whooped.

"Bravo team." Shepard radioed. "This is alpha, you can land, but be aware of small arms fire. Don't fire on the three ATLAS mechs, we're in them."

* * *

><p>"Got it." Garrus confirmed. "Beginning descent."<p>

James opened the door, allowing Garrus to push the turret forwards and take aim at the Cerberus troops below.

"It's pandemonium down there." James pointed at the battle below. "Looks like the combat mechs have turned on Cerberus too."

"That'll be Tali's handiwork." Garrus smirked. "Hold her steady."

Cortez kept the shuttle level as Garrus began to fire. The second shuttle followed them with another turret to dispense the rain of bullets. Teriss took the lead in her gunship, just in case Cerberus tried to send fighters, she was also attacking fortified positions.

"Shuttle two, beginning descent." The shuttle began to land, covered by bravo team in the air and alpha team on the ground.

The shuttle landed, kicking up more whirling snow, unloading its passengers. Grunt and Javik ran out and joined the fight.

"Shuttle one." Cortez radioed. "Beginning descent."

Garrus pulled the turret back in and pulled out his rifle. "Weapons free." He said. "But don't fire on the ATLAS mechs."

The shuttle touched down, the passengers jumped out.

"Alpha team, bravo is on the ground." Garrus radioed.

The shuttles took off, they returned with Talon to the Normandy.

Shepard and his team hopped out of the mechs and joined bravo on the ground.

"Alright, we need to split up." Shepard told them. "This place to big for a single team." He considered. "Garrus, you're still bravo. Take Grunt, Javik and Ashley with you." He instructed. "I'll take Tali, James and Liara, we'll need Tali's hacking skills to recover Cerberus data. Your team needs to take care of any Cerberus personnel left on site, my team will secure any intel that can lead us to the Illusive Man."

"You can count on us." Garrus nodded.

"Let's move out."

* * *

><p>Tali hacked their way inside the fortress, Garrus had already begun to mop up the Cerberus forces still inside.<p>

"Form up." Shepard ordered. "We don't know what's waiting for us."

"I'd hate to think about the traps they could lay for us." Tali added.

James merely checked the clip on his Revenant and kept the weapon raised.

"Bravo here." Garrus radioed. "We're encountering light resistance, they're just running away and firing once or twice."

"Stay vertical." Shepard told him. "Watch out for ambushes."

"Will do." Garrus answered. "Bravo out."

Alpha continued to move quickly, but warily, they hadn't encountered much security. That could be good or bad, it either meant that Cerberus was running out of soldiers or that they were setting a trap.

"Check the corners." Shepard instructed. "But stay close."

The corridors were unusually empty for a Cerberus base, no security, not even a lick of paint.

"This is too easy." Tali muttered.

"Yeah." James nodded. "Where are all the guards?"

"They can't all be dead." Tali continued. "They must have more for a place this big."

She had a point, Shepard was starting to like this less and less.

"Maybe Garrus has distracted them." Liara suggested. "Or they're retreating."

"You stick to the optimism, Lola." James shrugged. "I'll stick to a big gun."

They carried on in silence, the place was still too empty for Shepard's liking. The only sound came from their boots on the floor, echoing around the empty corridors. They couldn't even hear the blizzard outside.

Their radios buzzed. "Bravo to alpha, come in!" Garrus sounded like he was in trouble. "Ashley and Javik are down! Grunt isn't doing any better." He coughed suddenly. "Cerberus has…" He began to cough again.

"Garrus!" Shepard called, trying not to panic. "Fall back!"

"Don't go near the…" He went quiet and Shepard heard a thud, like a body hitting the ground.

"Shit!" He hissed. "We're going back for them."

As he turned round, something clattered into the corridor, a small black cylinder.

It spat and a dull gas began to erupt from the cylinder.

"Gas!" Shepard shouted. "Seal your helmets."

James was already coughing. "It's no good!" He choked. "It's going straight through!" He coughed again and collapsed.

Shepard heard Tali cough next, if it was affecting her then the helmets were completely useless.

He felt the gas burning in his throat, going into his lungs. He began to cough too, unable to stop.

"Shepard!" Liara tried to steady him.

"Go!" Shepard wheezed. "Run!"

Too late, she was starting to cough too. Liara fell to he knees and pitched forwards.

Shepard coughed again and fell too.

As his vision started to blur, he saw someone walking through the gas. Or was it two? He was starting to see double.

"The Illusive Man sends his regards." A familiar, cold voice sneered.

Shepard tried to reach for his handgun or reply with the strongest insult he could think of, but the world began to fade.

Everything went black as his head hit the floor.

* * *

><p>"…Shepard is predictable, I knew his next target was Noveria." Leng was saying as Shepard came to. "I arranged a trap by sacrificing some of our less important men, it was easy to lure them into the fortress to be gassed."<p>

"Excellent work, Leng." The Illusive Man was speaking, from the sounds of it by hologram. "I see that Shepard is waking up. Give us a moment."

Shepard lifted his head, unable to move anything else. His arms were held above his head and his legs were bound too. They'd taken his armour and weapons, just leaving him with the bodysuit that went under his armour.

The hologram of the Illusive Man stepped closer, he was drinking brandy this time.

"Shepard, welcome to Cronos station." He smiled. "Take some consolation in the fact that you're not only alive, but that you have also arrived at my base, just not in the way you wanted. I believe that this is better for both of us."

"Where are my friends?" Shepard demanded.

"They're alive." The Illusive Man replied, undaunted. "I'm not stupid enough to kill your weaknesses." He smiled again. "I could have you tortured, but that would be a waste of time, you wouldn't break. I believe that N7 training is very thorough, besides, you're a strong individual."

"Why are you using a hologram?" Shepard asked. "Too cowardly to face me yourself?"

"Hardly." The Illusive Man answered. "I am busy at the moment. Be grateful that I've welcomed you to the station."

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the chase?" The Illusive Man raised his eyebrows. "Before I tell you, I'd like you to see something." He gestured at Leng who pressed a few buttons on a console.

An image appeared, showing Liara strapped to a chair with some Cerberus scientists carrying needles and scalpels.

"I decided to show you your lover's predicament, before you outright refuse to help us." The Illusive Man explained. "This is a simple deal, Shepard. You answer my questions and she remains unharmed. If your refuse to answer my questions, she will be tortured. If you take too long to answer or play for time then she will be tortured." He smiled again, Shepard still wanted to wipe that smile off hi face, with violence. "Your choice, Shepard." He surmised. "That's what you're good at, isn't it? Making choices."

Shepard gritted his teeth, this was impossible!

"Leng, open a link." The Illusive Man suddenly sounded vicious. "I want them to hear each other." He turned to Shepard again. "We both know how much you trust her, so we're going to ask her questions too, the same rules apply."

"Fuck you!" Shepard growled.

"Not very civil, Commander." The Illusive Man remarked. "Allow me to dispense the punishment." Leng pressed a button, an intercom. "A small dose, but make it something sharp."

One of the men nodded and selected a syringe filled with yellowy liquid.

He injected it into Liara's arm, Shepard saw her clench her teeth and fists in an attempt to resist the pain.

Whatever it was, it overcame her. Her head arched back and her mouth opened in a silent scream, agony written all over her face.

Then the sound hit, a long, wailing scream that made Shepard's heart stop in a moment that seemed to tear on forever.

He'd never heard her scream like that. Never.

And he couldn't stand it.

"My first question, Shepard." The Illusive Man was certain that he had made his point, he was right. "Where is the fleet you have gathered?"

"Don't…" Liara managed to look up at the camera.

"Keep her quiet." Leng instructed.

"Don't tell them anything!" Liara shouted up at the camera.

"I…" Shepard shook his head. "Liara… I can't let them…"

"Don't tell them!" One of the interrogators clapped a hand over her mouth, yelping when she bit him.

"She'll stop." The Illusive Man assured them. "Due to her resistance, we'll have to punish Shepard."

Leng stepped forwards with a green liquid and injected it into Shepard's arm.

It felt like his nerves were being cut with rusty knives. The drug boiled along his veins and into his body.

He tried to hold out for as long as possible, but that only made it worse. Unable to help himself, Shepard cried out as though someone was driving a stake through his chest.

Liara froze, her eyes widened, as the drug subsided Shepard saw tears in her eyes.

"Shepard…" She whispered, dismayed.

"It's almost sweet." The Illusive Man tipped back the last of the brandy. "A human and an asari in love, so devoted to each other." He turned back to Shepard. "Haven't you considered the fact that she'll outlive you? Replace you?"

Shepard tried to lift himself up, the drug had taken it's toll.

"I love her." His statement was so full of certainty that it made Liara sob. "She might outlive me, you might kill us, but I'll die a happy man because that's one thing you can't kill or control."

"You've seen our progress, Shepard." The Illusive Man continued to smile with that plastic grimace. "We can control the Reapers, use them to make humanity dominant."

"And how long before you become like the Reapers?" Shepard hissed. "How long before you're committing genocide. Look me in the eye." He gathered his strength and glared at the Illusive Man. "I'm fighting the Reapers, how long before someone fights back and wins against you? You might win the battle, but you won't win the war."

The Illusive Man considered, then he began to laugh. "You're so convinced." He laughed. "We both have our causes, Shepard. I've just found the winning one." He paused. "How many, Shepard? How many people have died for your cause?"

"How many have died for yours?" Shepard retorted. "How many trillions will die if you win?"

"You're not answering my question, Shepard." The Illusive Man sighed. "Get…" He paused, it sounded like someone was talking to him. "A breakthrough?" He asked. "Excellent. Leng, continue the interrogation." The hologram faded.

Leng grinned at Shepard, then turned back to the screen. "A larger dose." He ordered. "I want them broken."

The interrogator nodded and produced another syringe, injecting it into Liara's arm again. This time she screamed as soon as the needle left her skin. Her long cry almost made Shepard think of Banshees, the pain they went through, the pain Liara was going through.

"_If they take me…" _That unfinished request.

He'd failed her.

"I care less about answers, Shepard." Leng told him. "Some work and all play." He was assessing some charts, listening to Liara's cries and sobs as if they were musical. "This is interesting, according to our R and D, your cybernetics should allow you age slower." He considered. "You'd be able to have a couple of centuries, maybe four, with your pet alien. If we let you live." He tapped a few buttons. "Now then, Shepard. Where is your fleet?"

An alarm began to blare suddenly.

Leng stepped back to the console and changed channels. "Report?"

"A viral attack!" Someone sounded frantic. "We've lost our defences and all security systems are down."

"Viral?" Leng demanded.

"Two hundred zeta-bytes of porn and illegal extranet bookmarks just hit our servers." The tech replied. "It's an E-bomb."

Leng swore and left the room. "All personnel on code red." He ordered.

Shepard was left hanging, Liara was still strapped in the chair, but they were alone.

"Liara." Shepard shook his head. "I'm_ so _sorry." He meant it, seeing her being tortured would linger for years.

"I'm sorry too." She replied, just as sincere.

"I should have told them."

"No." Liara shook her head. "They would have killed us anyway." She looked up at the camera, still looking pained. But somehow, she managed to smile through that pain. "Be grateful, Leng just gave you some good news, about the lifespan."

"Yeah." Shepard smiled back. "It sounds like Joker's here too."

"What makes you say that?"

"Who would have two hundred zeta-bytes of porn to give to EDI?" Shepard chuckled. "EDI's just dropped an E-bomb."

"Then there's a chance for us to escape."

"Yes." Shepard nodded. "There is, then we'll have words with the Illusive Man."

* * *

><p>Garrus woke to the sound of banging in the cell next to him.<p>

"Grunt?" He asked.

"Try again." James grunted as he barged into the door again.

"James." Garrus stood up. "Good to hear from you, anyone else there?"

"Nope." James rammed the door again. "Cerberus has been taunting me, but I kept giving them the finger and variations."

"Nice one." Garrus took a look at the thick reinforced door. "You can't break this down."

"Worth a try." James grunted. "I'm not waiting to be tortured."

"Fair enough." Garrus found a panel, removed one of the supports from the bunk and began to work the panel loose. "I'll have a go on my end. I don't want to be tortured either."

"At least they can't make us pregnant." James joked.

"True." Garrus agreed. "Although…" He paused for a moment. "Shit, if they wanted to get to Shepard then who would they torture."

"She's tough." James rammed the door again, Garrus shook his head. "Besides, Cerberus is so pro-human they'd probably just use hot coals and drugs."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Garrus finally got the panel off and began to fiddle with the wires.

James groaned in frustration. "How do turians break out of a cell?"

"Well…" Garrus tugged a wire, the light went out for a second. "Hmm."

"What do you mean _well hmm_?"

The door opened and Garrus stepped out, opening James' cell too. "Trade secrets." He grinned. "Come on, let's grab some guns and get some payback."

"Hoorah!" James whooped.

* * *

><p>Grunt's greeting to the cell didn't go well.<p>

For Cerberus anyway.

He'd just finished crushing a trooper's skull when the alarms went off. He grabbed the guns and began to stomp up the cell block.

As he clomped up, he heard footsteps ahead and took cover in one of the empty cells, aiming a Maul down the corridor.

"Which way?" That was James, Grunt lowered the gun.

"How should I know?" Garrus complained.

"Try following the arrows." Grunt stepped out of the cell and pointed at the an arrow on the ceiling. "Here, take these." He threw them some Mauls.

Garrus nodded. "We need to find Shepard, come on." He began to run down the corridor.

"Not that way!" Grunt shouted. "I said follow _those _arrows."

* * *

><p>Shepard saw the interrogators return to Liara's room, one of them was carrying a gun.<p>

"Only kill her if we have to." One of them ordered. "Continue the interrogation."

The door slid open again.

"Where the…" One of the interrogators began.

Bullets ripped into him and the others. Ashley stepped into view, accompanied by Javik and Tali.

"Liara?" Ashley checked her. "Thank God!" She released Liara. "Tali, get her a gun."

Tali handed Liara a weapon. "Something's attacked the station.

"EDI, she launched an E-bomb." Liara explained. "We need to find Shepard."

The door to Shepard's room opened, a trooper ran in with a gun and took aim at Shepard.

A bullet whizzed through his head, missing Shepard by a centimetre.

"That was close." James commented.

"He's dead isn't he?" Garrus stepped over the body. "I didn't hit Shepard either."

James tapped some controls and released Shepard from the device. "You good to fight, Loco?"

"I'm fine." Shepard stood up and took a rifle offered by Grunt. "We need our equipment, then we need to regroup."

"I found a radio and hacked the frequency." Garrus explained. "Joker's launching an attack with some of Hackett's ships, Leng forgot to look for the Normandy when he hauled us here."

"We'll get him a medal when we get out of here." Shepard checked the rifle. "Stay close."

* * *

><p>They managed to find their armour and weapons, but they were still separated.<p>

Shepard took the lead again, the sooner they regrouped, the sooner they could come up with a relatively solid plan.

"Ashley, can you read me?" Shepard asked.

"I hear you, Skipper." Ashley responded. "What's your location."

"We're in…" Shepard found a sign. "Section one-twenty."

"We're in one-thirty." Ashley replied. "Cerberus can't score well for ease of use."

"We'll be as quick as we can." Shepard changed channels. "Joker, are you there?"

"Ach!" Joker sounded like he was busy. "Wait a second!" Shepard heard what sounded like explosions. "Okay, we're clear."

"Can EDI analyse security here?"

"Analyse?" Joker almost laughed. "She's eating it for breakfast, you're clear until one-twenty-five."

Shepard glanced at his team, who were checking their reclaimed weapons. "We're clear for now." he told them. "We should move now, whilst Cerberus is confused."

Thanks to EDI, it didn't take them long to regroup in one-twenty-six, killing the Cerberus troops fretting about the alerts.

Liara ran straight into Shepard's arms, the others decided to give them a moment.

"Commander," Garrus brought him back to the current issue, "we need to secure an escape route, and find the Illusive Man."

"Agreed." Shepard nodded. "I'll take you and Liara to find him. Ashley, you take the others and secure the shuttle bay, see if you can help our allies by taking down their defences."

"Yes sir." Ashley shouldered her rifle. "See you in the hanger."

Shepard waited for them to go before turning to his squad, his friends.

"Just like old times." Garrus grinned.

"We'll be as quick as we can." Shepard told them. "Stay alive and find the Illusive Man. Ready?"

"Always." Garrus nodded.

"Ready and willing." Liara agreed.

* * *

><p>The ORCUS mech fell back with several bullets in its chest. They'd moved fast during the havoc and were already in the main section, in the labs.<p>

"Garrus, take that position." He pointed at a crate on the left. "Concentrate fire on the YMIR."

The squad opened fire on the YMIR, taking down its shields and finishing it off with a singularity and a grenade.

"Any formation you want to adopt?" Garrus asked.

"Search and destroy." Shepard answered with a half smile.

"Excellent." Garrus moved ahead.

The Cerberus troopers were staying back, they were not only confused, they were scared.

Bullets were still whizzing past them though, they were putting up a defence. This was their last stand, they weren't going down without a fight.

Shepard put a bullet through the head of a Phantom and stabbed his omni-blade into another one. A biotic thrummed past him and sent a mech flying, the ORCUS next to it overloaded and exploded.

Their rampage took them deeper into the station, until they finally reached the observation deck, according to EDI, it was where the Illusive Man kept his data and command centre. He liked to watch a burning star, no-one knew why.

The two mechs went down easily. Shepard strode across the polished floor and sat down in the Illusive Man's chair. Garrus and Liara began to hack into some more terminals as Shepard accessed the main one.

The holographic projector behind him activated, the Illusive Man wasn't smiling for once, he was angry. Good.

"Shepard." he glared. "You're in _my _chair."

Shepard stood up and turned to face him. "This chair is all that you've got left."

"Cerberus is humanity, Shepard."

"Yet I'm fighting you." Shepard retorted. "It's over, just make it easier on yourself and surrender."

"As long humanity is under threat," the Illusive Man lit another cigarette, "I will _never _surrender."

"Shepard," Liara called, "I've found the VI."

"Enjoy your talk, Shepard." The Illusive Man's hologram began to fade. "But don't overstay your welcome."

The Prothean VI crackled into being, it looked like Cerberus had been hacking it.

"Have you arrived to deliver me from indoctrinated forces?" The VI asked.

"We've tested the Signal." Shepard told the VI. "It works, we just need a way to broadcast it across the galaxy."

"Security protocols have been rescinded, I will assist you." The VI stated. "You must find a powerful Reaper device that communes with all Reapers."

"And that is?" Garrus prompted.

"You call it the Cradle." The VI answered. "It creates Reapers, it is also their command centre, it contains thousands of Reaper minds, the first of their kind to ascend. They control their brethren. Upload the Signal to the Cradle and you can defeat the Reapers. The Signal can be sent through every Mass Relay, even into Dark Space."

"Where is the Cradle?" Shepard asked.

"The one you call the Illusive Man has left to alert the Reapers to your plans and to initiate his own."

"Crap!" Garrus grimaced.

"The Cradle has been moved to Reaper controlled space." The VI continued. "The Sol system."

"Earth." Liara murmured. "They're going to destroy the system."

"That is likely." The VI agreed. "But the process takes time, if you hurry, you can make it before they destroy the system." It paused. "Alert; indoctrinate hostile detected, entering standby mode." The VI vanished.

Shepard turned and saw Kai Leng walking towards them with his sword drawn.

"He did tell you not to overstay your welcome." Kai Leng sneered.

He yelled a war cry charged, spinning the sword. Shepard blocked it with his rifle and dodged Leng's attacks.

"You're slow, Shepard!" Leng taunted.

"That's because I'm not running!" Shepard retorted.

Phantoms entered, Liara and Garrus opened fire on them. Bullets, tech attacks and biotics were storming around the deck.

"You ran on the Citadel," Shepard goaded, "you ran on Kahje, you ran on Omega and you ran on Thessia!"

"Shut up!" Leng bawled.

The assassin charged again, Shepard swung his rifle like a club and hit him in the jaw, breaking some teeth. Leng snarled and swung the sword, it skittered off Shepard's shoulder plate.

A Phantom swung at Shepard, only for Garrus to tackle him to the ground and snap his neck. Liara punched one with a biotic assisted fist and shot him with her SMG.

Leng went for Liara, grabbing her arm and lifting his sword.

Liara snarled and head-butted him, Leng staggered back with a broken nose. He dodged the bullets Liara fired at him and ran towards Shepard. Leng yelled again and brought his blade down like an executioner's axe.

Shepard nimbly dodged it, slammed the butt of his rifle into his chest, making Leng stagger.

Shepard fired.

Bullets slammed into Leng's chest, smashing through his armour and spraying blood.

The assassin rasped and dropped to the floor.

"You don't head-butt people?" Shepard smirked at Liara.

"It was a good idea at the time." Liara wiped Leng's blood off her forehead.

Shepard put his rifle away and returned to the chair, his allies began to scavenge more data.

No-one noticed Leng move, silently picking up his sword and getting to his feet.

Even if it was his last act, he would kill Shepard. He limped up as quietly as he could, right behind Shepard.

He lifted the blade, ready to stab it into Shepard's head.

Shepard lashed out with his fist, breaking the blade like it was glass.

Leng stared in horror at the broken shards as Shepard stood and activated his omni-blade.

Kai Leng had made the mistake of bringing a sword to an omni-blade fight.

The blade slammed into his throat, spraying blood.

"That was for Kirrahe, you son of a bitch!" Shepard spat before withdrawing the blade and severing Leng's jugular. Blood sprayed across his boots as Leng hit the floor, dead this time, thoroughly dead.

The VI appeared again as Liara began to download it onto her omni-tool.

"It is too late." It announced. "The Reapers are preparing to harvest your species and your sun, you should find methods to conserve your species."

"I'll stop them." Shepard vowed.

"I recommend that you retreat. Survive and succeed where we failed…"

"You didn't fail." Shepard interrupted. "You gave us hope, and we _will _stop the Reapers."

The VI regarded him as if surprised, then faded into Liara's omni-tool.

Kai Leng was dead, the Illusive Man could be next.

The Cradle was in the Sol system, ready to begin harvesting.

Shepard was ready, his friends were ready, his allies were ready.

It was time to end this.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Two chapters left and that is a <strong>_**fact_! _**

**_Next is the battle for Earth, I hope you're looking forwards to the battle and the finale._**


	27. Stand together

_**Please be aware that this is my first attempt at a sex scene, so please don't have a go at me for it, be thankful because I usually dodge around the subject. I'm sure you can imagine what happens anyway. **__**If I read any more George R.R Martin then I might update this later, when I have more confidence, but like I said; I specialise in the emotional stuff.**_

_**By the way; I decided to stick with London because I know most of the locations. Adressing a comment from ShadowMythic, Shepard uses the Hackett speech because this is his finest hour, so to speak. Besides, he's done all the work, he deserves the glory.**_

* * *

><p>Shepard finished the latest entry in his journal. He was nervous.<p>

He knew that stress had odd ways of manifesting, he'd come across Garrus and Tali in an intimate moment which they had failed to pass off as an accident. Shepard was happy for them, quarians and turians could manage a relationship much like he could with Liara.

But how could they expect him to be ready for this?

He heard the doors to his quarters hiss open, only one person would come to him at this moment.

He was right, it was Liara.

"I was wondering where you were." She smiled.

"EDI didn't tell you?" Shepard asked.

"She respects your privacy," Liara smirked, "unlike me." She noticed the datapad in his hand. "What are you doing?"

Shepard put the pad down and stood up. "Just a last entry, in case…" He stopped.

"We can do this, Shepard." Liara told him, eyes full of certainty. "We all believe in you."

Shepard sat down on his bed, it was good to talk to Liara, she understood. She was the only one who had ever really known what he was like. He'd had no parents or family back on Earth. The Reds had never been kind. Then he'd gone to the Alliance and they'd pinned medals on his chest for holding the line on Elysium.

Why had he done it?

Because he'd had nothing to lose.

But now he did have something to lose. Something to live for.

"Do you feel ready, Shepard?" Liara asked him, seeing his doubts.

"How can anyone be ready for this?" Shepard asked.

"You fight, you negotiate," Liara sat down next to him. "And make tremendous sacrifices, until the galaxy realises that it has someone worth following."

"You think so?"

"There's no doubt in my mind."

They both stared up into the stars, Shepard remembered all those times they'd talked, years ago. They'd both needed each other, if not for expression, then for emotion. He held her hand, fingers interlaced with hers.

"It would be easy for one ship to get lost up there," Liara murmured, "wouldn't it?"

"Yeah." Shepard agreed. "It would."

"To find someplace very far away, where you could spend the rest of your life," she smiled, this was all becoming hopelessly romantic. "In peace and happiness." She added as Shepard kissed her.

"Right now," Shepard told her, "there's no place I'd rather be."

"Neither would I." Liara agreed, they were close enough to lose themselves in each other's eyes. They kissed again.

"Whatever happens out there," Liara told him, "I'm glad we're doing this, John."

"I love you, Liara T'Soni." Shepard needed to tell her this, in case there wasn't another opportunity. It was true anyway, she meant so much to him. "I want you to know that."

She came closer, still smiling lovingly. "I love you too, John Shepard." They kissed again.

The Reapers, the galaxy, they didn't matter then. It was just the two of them for a night, a chance to be together, their last chance should the worst come to pass.

It was almost like a dream only better by far. The feel of her skin, the distant memories forgotten even as felt each other's scars, the soothing feeling as she joined their souls together. The heat of their passion and the knowledge that whatever happened, they would be happy before they entered the last battle.

Shepard woke, no nightmares this time. He could feel Liara next to him, she had her arms around him, her body pressed against his. He would have liked to watch her sleep, but they had to be ready.

He woke her as he sat up. "You can't sleep?" She asked drowsily.

"We're almost there." He told her, a little sadly, what he wouldn't have given for there to be more time. "I hope everyone is ready."

She sat up, putting her hand on his shoulder. The sheets slipped from her body, she had been a litter shier when they had first melded, but now she trusted him completely. She was still beautiful, it occurred to Shepard that she would retain that beauty for most, if not all, of his lifetime. She smiled at him sweetly, warmly. "You don't need to worry about that." Liara said soothingly. "You rallied who you could. The Reapers won't get any more chances to divide us."

Shepard wasn't sure if she meant the races of the galaxy or the two of them.

"This time, the galaxy follows _our _lead." She finished encouragingly.

"There will be casualties." Shepard sighed. "I just wonder how many."

"You're not alone in this fight now, John." Liara was right. On Elysium, he had been alone. Now he had every species at his back ready to fight the Reapers. And he had Liara, that made the biggest difference to him. "Take strength from that."

He kissed her again. "Thanks Liara."

"My pleasure." She smiled.

* * *

><p>Shepard and Liara walked out onto the CIC, Garrus was waiting for them, Joker had pulled them into the system where the fleet was waiting.<p>

Just one final jump to Earth.

Whatever happened, this would all be over soon.

"Shepard, the fleet is ready." Garrus told him. "I'm guessing you two are." He checked the console. "We can open a com' channel, I'm sure they'll want to hear some words from the Commander who's rallied them and is going to lead them into battle."

"That's a good idea, Garrus." Shepard nodded. "Open a channel."

Shepard stepped up to the galaxy map. He nodded at Garrus, who turned the com' on. Now every ship in the fleet could hear him.

"Never before have so many come together from all corners of the galaxy, but never before have we faced an enemy like this." He began, receiving an encouraging smile from Liara. "The Reapers will show us no mercy, we must give them no quarter. They will terrorise our populations, we must stand strong in the face of that terror. They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall. We will prevail. Each of us will be defined by our actions in the coming battle, stand strong, stand together. Shepard out."

* * *

><p>The Normandy exited the relay, the first into the field.<p>

The Reaper fleet was waiting.

Behind the Normandy, more ships began to appear. Every single ship that every race had.

Turians, asari, salarians, quarians, krogan, vorcha, hanar, drell, volus, rachni, batarians, humans and even geth.

A fleet billions strong with the Normandy at its head.

Joker began to listen to the capital ships of each fleet report.

"This is _Everest_," Hackett reported, "Alliance fleet is ready and willing. Godspeed."

"This is the _Destiny Ascension_, the asari fleet is ready. Goddess be with us all."

"_Tukara _here, the turian fleet is accounted for, let's end this."

"This is _Aralakh's Fury_, we're ready to kick Reaper ass!"

"_Neema_, reporting. Quarian fleet accounted for and ready."

"_Je'avo _reporting. The salarian fleet is prepared."

"Normandy, this is _Claw of Khar'shan_, we're present and prepared."

"This one announces that the _Anger of the Enkindlers _is ready for battle. May the Enkindlers favour us today."

"_Senkat _reporting, the drell fleet is on the field.

"_Dolus _here, the volus are awaiting orders."

"Confidently: _Dekunna's Shield _reports that all elcor vessels are present."

"Legion reporting, our fleet is at maximum strength, the dreadnaught is ready."

"Omega fleet reporting in, all ships and mercs accounted for."

A series of musical warbling sounds indicated that the Rachni were present.

The fight for Earth had begun.

The Reaper fleet held its ground above Earth. Harbinger was among them.

Shepard could see the Cradle above Earth, almost as big as the planet.

"This is it, everyone." Shepard told them. "Prepare to fire." He waited until the display showed that they were in range. "Fire!"

The united fleet advanced and began to fire. Thunder roared as the guns blazed. Even a Reaper couldn't withstand this, and many of them fell.

"On my mark, engage the Reaper forces." Shepard ordered the fighters.

"Copy that." A pilot responded. "All fighters on me."

The mass of fighters swept past, it was exhilarating to see them from every race all united. Nimble geth fighters joined formation with strong batarian fighters. Turian and human interceptors sped towards the Reapers together.

"Attack!" Shepard ordered.

"Acknowledged." The pilot confirmed. "Open fire!"

Swarms of fighters swept past the capital ships and clashed with the hordes of Oculus drones over Earth.

The Reapers opened fire, cutting down capital ships in vicious red slashes. But for every ship destroyed, ten more would be there and they would overwhelm the Reaper.

The Normandy led the charge, Thanix cannons slicing through enemy ships. It was paving the way for the transports that followed in its wake.

Sword fleet continued to advance, firing as they went. The space above Earth was filled with debris, missiles, cannon rounds and ships tearing each other to pieces.

Everest moved in closer and fired its mass accelerator through a Reaper's hull, blowing it in half. The geth dreadnaught was using its pulse weapons to slice Reapers to pieces.

Despite this, they were still outmatched. The Reapers not only outnumbered them, they also had more firepower. As a couple of turian cruisers shot at one, it pointed its finger like appendages at them and fired its beams, destroying the two cruisers.

Oculus drones and fighters clashed and weaved throughout the chaos, many of the Oculus were performing kamikaze runs on bigger ships or fighters. A Destroyer landed on the hull of a batarian cruiser and fired into it, cutting it apart.

Many of the transports were shot down, but more made it through to Earth. A Kodiak carrying Shepard's team rocketed out of the Normandy, which spun round and fired into another Reaper.

As the battle raged overhead, the transports thundered towards Earth.

Anderson was where the Reapers were finalising their plans, London.

It would end there.

* * *

><p>The shuttles sped through the atmosphere, towards Earth. Anderson and the majority of the Reapers were in London. Why was unclear, but they wouldn't be there for much longer.<p>

"Hammer to Anvil." Shepard radioed, Anvil was the code for Earth, or rather the resistance led by Anderson. "Do you read me?"

"Anvil here." Anderson replied. "God! It's a wonderful sight, we can see the battle overhead with our few remaining satellites."

"Where are you?"

"Westminster." Anderson answered. "Be careful, there's a heavy Reaper presence between you and here. You might want to land in Soho and fight your way through, take out any anti-air weapons in the way."

"Sounds good." Shepard agreed. "Hammer, drop the Makos, we'll take point, land in Soho."

"Copy that, Commander." The task force confirmed.

It wasn't glitzy or flamboyant anymore. It was ruined, blackened and broken. Ash and rain swathed across the streets and burnt bodies.

The two Makos moved ahead of the main force. London's streets were still a little tight for tanks, so they were being cautious.

"Hammer, this is Sword." Hackett called. "We're lost a few ships, but we're holding."

"We're on our way to Anvil's location." Shepard responded. "Heavy Reaper presence ahead, but we're prepared."

The Makos rumbled up to Tower Bridge without incident. The bridge had fared little better, but it was still intact.

"They needed to get husks around via the bridge." Garrus said. "They're not stupid."

"It's exposed." Shepard pointed out. "We should be careful. Hammer, hold position."

"Roger that." The rest of the convoy confirmed.

The two Makos moved first, heading quietly across the bridge.

They could hear explosions and gunfire in the distance, the Reapers could be seen advancing through the city.

The rain was hammering on the Mako's hull, good old British weather.

The ground shook as a Reaper Destroyer stomped out and prepare to fire.

"Back up!" Shepard shouted, the beam was going to slice the bridge in half.

A pair of blue missiles hit the Reaper's cannon, the Destroyer writhed as the EMP rippled through it.

"You didn't think that I'd sit this one out, did you!" Talon flew overhead, accompanied by fighter and gunship squadrons.

"Forget stealth." Shepard opened a com' channel. "All Hammer units, open fire!"

"With pleasure." The tanks moved up, firepower from every race again. The weapons made Soho shake as they opened fire, hitting the Reaper and smashing it to pieces.

"One Reaper dead!" Garrus whooped. "The first of many."

"Hammer, form up." Shepard instructed. "We're closing in on Anvil."

"Roger that." Hammer replied.

The Makos moved up, but Hammer joined the two of them and stayed close, the firepower would come in handy.

"Anvil to Hammer." Anderson called them. "We can see you from Big Ben, you've got more tanks than we expected." He paused. "I've got to see to the defences, a Major Coats will direct you from the tower."

"Yeah," a man with a British accent spoke in the background, "like I haven't had enough of this bloody tower."

"I know, just keep an eye on them." Anderson told him and passed the com' over.

"Hammer, this is Major Coats." The Major called them. "Head towards Westminster, for you yanks, that's the place with the big clock tower."

"Yeah, we know." Shepard confirmed. "We're on our way, ETA five minutes."

"Our snipers have taken out the husks wandering around." Coats continued. "You're clear, for now."

* * *

><p>The convoy rolled into the makeshift compound in the ruins of Westminster, Parliament.<p>

"This place used to be historic." Ashley said as she stepped out of her Mako.

"The Reapers revel in chaos." Javik told her. "Destroying symbols is part of their conquest."

"They haven't knocked down Big Ben." Ashley chuckled. "They're either crap shots or they hate politicians."

Anderson came out to greet them, wearing battle dress and carrying an assault rifle. "Shepard, you never cease to amaze me." He gestured at one of the krogan tanks that had parked next to an asari tank. "I'm glad you're here."

"So am I." Shepard looked up at the damaged Big Ben with snipers and rocket launchers inside. "Even if it looks like hell."

"I was born in London." Anderson murmured. "The Reapers came here a few weeks back and began to construct something, come on, I'll show you inside."

He led them into the broken hallways, they'd set up a command centre in the House of Commons. Anderson showed them a map of the area.

"Here, where Buckingham Palace used to be." He pointed. "The Reapers have built something there, they take the living and the dead there, day and night.""Sounds like a Conduit." Shepard suggested. "The Cradle is above Earth, they must be harvesting bodies to make into Reapers."

"How many does it take?" Major Coats walked in and propped his sniper rifle against the speaker's chair. "They've taken thousands, most of London, within days."

"Millions." Shepard answered. "Hundred of millions."

"Shit." Coats hissed.

"That about sums it up." Ashley nodded.

"We need to get to that Conduit." Shepard told Anderson. "We need to take the Signal to the Cradle."

"That's suicide, Shepard." Anderson brought up more images. "There's a huge Reaper force in the way, including a pair of Destroyers. Orbital support is out, Sword is taking hits."

"What about heavy weapons?" Shepard asked. "If we used them in conjunction with an EMP, we can take them down."

"That might work." Coats agreed. "We have your tanks."

"No, you'll need them for the main assault." Shepard told him. "Have you got any heavy weapons? Rockets?"

"Better." Coats half smiled. "We've got some M290 Cains, four of them. With that gunship of yours, you could take down the Destroyers whilst the main force has them distracted."

"Good thinking, Major." Anderson nodded. "Who will command the main force?"

"You will." Shepard stated. "I'll take on of the Makos and take out the Destroyers."

"Alright." Anderson nodded. "Take some time to prepare, talk to your allies, have a drink. Whatever. We're in for the toughest fight of our lives."

"Got it, Sir." Shepard saluted.

* * *

><p>Shepard wandered through Parliament, his allies had spread out and were prepping their weapons and kit.<p>

One last fight. This would be over soon, one way or another.

He met Garrus as he directed some rookies in the use of sniper rifles.

"Hey, Shepard." He nodded. "It's been a hell of a ride, mostly fun."

"Yeah." Shepard agreed. "You'd better keep your head down though, there's no Shepard without Vakarian."

"I'll try to duck." Garrus shrugged. "Turians aren't too good at that. You know, there's an Earth saying James told me: may you be in heaven thirty minutes before the devil knows you're dead. I don't know if human heaven is like turian heaven, but if this whole thing goes sideways, meet me in the bar."

Shepard shook his hand. "I will, but if I'm in that bar and you're not, I'll watch your six."

"Same here." Garrus smirked. "What do you say that we put an end to this waiting and kick some ass, one last time? Then we'll retire somewhere warm and tropical and live off the royalties from the vids. I'll shoot the trespassers, and the door-to-door salesmen."

Shepard bumped into James next, scratching tallies into the stock of his Revenant.

"Hey, Loco." James looked up from the gun. "Not much else to do, unless some Reapers come in or you brought a beer." He stood up. "You know, these Brits know a thing or two about a pint."

"You ready, James?" Shepard asked.

"Hoorah." James grinned. "It'll be epic, regardless of how this turns out. I don't know about you, but I think I'll join the N7s when this is over."

"They'd be mad not to take you." Shepard encouraged.

"Give them a recommendation." James picked up his gun. "You gotta survive first."

Next was Ashley, cleaning her rifle.

"Skipper, glad you stopped by." She smiled. "I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the bar when this is over."

"Fair enough." Shepard nodded. "You'll be off duty then."

"I've got to hand it to you, Shepard." She continued. "I'm actually grateful that you saved me on Virmire. I miss Kaidan, but he's with God now, I'm sure he's at peace."

"He'd be proud." Shepard patted her shoulder. "Of all of us."

"I would be." Ashley said. "Well make them prouder soon."

Shepard walked down to the parking area, where Grunt and Wrex were rallying the krogan.

"Shepard." Wrex grinned. "No matter what happens, you did it, you united a galaxy. That's a victory right there."

"Yeah, you have no match, Shepard." Grunt agreed. "We've killed Thresher Maws, now we're going to kill some Reapers. Bring it on."

Shepard wandered down to the west side next, Tali was busy fixing some computers that had packed up.

"Just a second." She thumped the computer, the lights blinked on. "There we go. The final battle and I'm still fixing junk, must be a force of habit."

"I thought you'd be with Garrus." Shepard said.

"We had a talk, I like his idea of living off the vids, but he's got to help me claim that beachfront property." She shrugged. "I'll talk to him soon." She sighed. "So, this is it."

"Yeah." Shepard nodded.

"I don't know what to say." Tali admitted. "I'll keep it simple then, _Keelah se'lai _

"_Keelah se'lai, _Tali."

Shepard met Javik as he looked over the battlefield.

"I am impressed." Javik said as he turned. "It's a pity we did not know each other in my cycle. We might have defeated the Reapers." He extended his hand, a gesture he'd picked up from being onboard the Normandy.

Shepard shook his hand. "The cycles end here." He vowed. "The Protheans can rest peacefully."

"Yes, they can." Javik nodded. "As for myself, I think I shall travel, see this galaxy fully before my time comes." He explained. "Fight well, Shepard."

Finally, he met Liara near Big Ben. He could that she was nervous, he couldn't blame her. "Three years." She murmured. "We've done so much in such a short time."

"If we win, we'll have a lifetime of peace." He told her.

"Maybe more." Liara suggested. "If the galaxy was to follow anyone's example, it would be yours." She paused, looking unsteady. "This is it, isn't it?"

"Yes." Shepard put a hand on her shoulder. "We're going into the storm and we're going in together."

"John, I have something for you." She told him. "It'll take a moment, if you want it."

"What is it?" Shepard asked, intrigued.

"We've exchanged memories before." She explained. "But it's always been yours, I can let you see mine. If you'd like that."

"I'd love to." Shepard smiled.

"Close your eyes." She told him.

Shepard did as she said, he felt her step closer and join their minds.

They seemed to be in some kind of wide open space, filled with lights like stars. Liara stepped closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder as light enveloped them.

Shepard opened his eyes, he suddenly knew her much better than before. The trust she put in him made him love her even more.

"Thank you, John." She breathed, kissing him. "Don't die out there."

"Same to you, Liara." He kissed her back. "I made you a promise. I intend to keep it."

* * *

><p>They gathered in the Hall of Commons again, Anderson was finalizing their plan.<p>

"Shepard." He waved him over to the map. "The Reapers are still out there, waiting for us to fight them. We're going to give them the fight they want, your plan still stands." He looked at him. "Are you ready, Shepard?"

"Absolutely." Shepard saluted. "Let's take back Earth."

"I'll rally the troops." Anderson nodded. "If you have anything to say to your team, now is the time."

Shepard waited until all of his allies had gathered round.

"It's been a long journey, too long to think of you as soldiers." He began. "My friends, we're ending this fight. We're fighting the greatest enemies of our time, we have lost countless lives to them, but we are still standing because we stand together. It's time to put an end to the Reapers, time to end their cycles, it is time for us to make a future. You've all made me proud and no matter what happens, we will make the Reapers fear us." He felt his resolve harden. "We win or lose it all in the next few minutes, so remember this: we have to give everything, even if that means our lives. We will stop at nothing. We will fight for the lost!"

Their reaction surprised him, they cheered.

They needed that strength and they had it by the cruiser full.

They would fight for the lost. They would fight for a future, their future.

* * *

><p>Hammer rolled out towards Buckingham Palace, no husk could stand in their way. The lances of bullets and the storms of missiles shot through the city and decimated the Reaper forces.<p>

Shepard drove the Mako round and up to the two Destroyers. He grabbed one of the Cains, Garrus, Grunt and Ashley grabbed the others.

"Talon, we're moving into position." Shepard radioed. "Fire on my signal."

"Ready and waiting, Commander." Teriss replied. "Ready to give them hell."

Shepard moved into a broken building, Ashley took the floor above. Garrus and Grunt moved into another one, the rest of the squad took cover.

"Teriss, open fire!" Shepard ordered.

"With pleasure." Talon swooped overhead and fired EMP missiles at the Destroyers as they opened their cannons. The EMP made them shudder and took down their shields.

"Now!" Shepard charged the Cain. "Fire!"

Four warheads laden with doom hit the Reapers, detonating with a mushroom cloud and gutting them before they could fire a shot.

Shepard threw the Cain down and walked out onto the street, Liara and Garrus joined him, then the others.

Husks began to appear in droves.

Hammer appeared behind Shepard, the ground shook under them.

Shepard began to walk forwards, his allies followed. As the husks charged, they ran towards them, firing as they went.

The battle cry was stirring and full of courage as they charge, activating their melee weapons and entering the melee. Soldiers ran up and joined them, krogan waded into the carnage and beat husks to death, asari flung biotics and blasted husks to pieces. Turians, quarians, batarians, geth, every race was involved. Even hanar and volus, although they were commanding tanks.

Shepard and Liara ended up back-to-back as husks charged at them, they never made it close enough to touch them. The battle continued to rage around them.

Another Destroyer stomped into the battle, destroying several tanks before Talon fired an EMP at it and the tanks finished it off. Missiles streaked through the air, mass accelerator rounds thundered through the rain, machine guns lit up the night. There was blood everywhere, not just the husks. A pair of Devils leapt onto a krogan and ripped off his arms before killing him. A turian ran out of ammo whislt face-to-face with a Marauder, he tried to batter it with his rifle, but the Marauder just beat him to death. A pair of Brutes grabbed a turian tank and smashed it into the ground, crushing it before one of the asari tanks could get a clear shot with its cannon.

Shepard kept firing, reloading, firing, just kept surviving like he had on Elysium. This wasn't just holding the line though, if they failed, everything would end. Garrus sprinted into cover and began to rack up the headshots. Grunt roared and charged into a group of Ravagers, beating and shooting them. James mowed down a drove of Stingers, Ashley alternated between her assault rifle and grenades. Tali kept electrocuting husks with her drone and finishing them off with her shotgun. Liara hurled biotics and relentlessly fired her SMG, tearing husks apart or shredding them with bullets.

A deafening roar filled the street, a Devastator was charging.

Shepard charged too, firing his rifle one handed, aware of his friends at his flanks.

He jumped as the Devastator came close.

His omni-blade plunged into its head, Shepard fired his assault rifle and blasted out its eyes.

It fell onto its back, Shepard withdrew the blade and leapt off, rejoining the assault.

Within what felt like hours, but was actually moments, they arrived.

Shepard, Liara and Garrus hopped into one of the Makos, they needed speed now, the rest of them stayed with Hammer.

In the ruins of Buckingham Palace, the conduit sat waiting. It looked more like Reaper tech than the Mass Relays. The air boiled with the thrumming blue beam that lead up to the Cradle.

The Makos advanced, mowing down Reaper infantry mercilessly.

A metallic growl filled the air as something descended.

"Reaper incoming!" One of the Mako drivers shouted.

Shepard recognised the huge shape and the yellow lights.

Harbinger.

Without warning, red beams began to slice across the battlefield, carving Makos and Hammerheads like a sword through flesh.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" Anderson yelled over the radio. "We're _not _breaking off now!"

The tanks strafed and weaved, but they were being destroyed too quickly.

Their Mako was almost there, only a few metres…

The next beam sliced through the tank, cutting it in half. Shepard was flung from the wreckage, dazed and blinded by the blast. His armour was blackened and hot.

He couldn't move and wondered if the blast had broken his limbs of severed them. Everything had become dull and toneless, echoing sounds thumped around him.

A figure ran in front of him, firing a rifle. "Commander!" It was Garrus. "Come on!" He grabbed him with one hand and began to pull him towards the conduit, firing his rifle one handed.

More husks were coming, Shepard pulled out his pistol and began to fire.

They kept getting closer with every husk killed, Garrus was still hauling Shepard, but it was slow work.

A thrumming sound filled Shepard's head as something lifted him and flung him into the sky.

"_This is it, isn't it?"_

Yes it was.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One more to go!<strong>_

_**Again, sorry about the romance scene, I'll probably update Inferno at some point, maybe after the exams. **_

_**I'm getting straight on with the next chapter, it'll be finished soon.**_

_**I put in the "fight for the lost" speech because I was dissapointed that it was in the ME2 trailer and didn't show up, it was pretty epic. Makos were also a bit more sensible than **__**running towards the conduit, in my opinion. The big fight scene was inspired by the "take Earth back" trailer. I hope you enjoyed it.**_


	28. An end once and for all

The first thing he smelt was rotting flesh. In all his years in the Alliance, the one thing that had never left him was the fear when he smelt that stench.

A hand pulled him onto his feet, Garrus. The turian was battered and bruised, but he was still kicking.

"Shepard." Anderson was calling him via radio.

"Admiral." Shepard found his feet, glad that he could still walk. "Where are you?"

"On the Cradle, Liara's here too." Anderson was whispering. "I think we've ended up in different places."

Shepard noticed the piles of bodies lying in the tunnel, that explained the smell.

"This place fits your description of the Collector ship." Anderson said.

"They must be processing these bodies." Shepard wiped the blood off his face. "To make Reapers."

"My God!" Anderson breathed.

"Shepard." Garrus pointed at the wall ahead, it had a seam down the middle. "This might lead somewhere."

Shepard managed to overcome the pain in his leg and walked over.

The wall slid open. They walked into some sort of chasm with a narrow bridge over tubes of grey liquid.

It was processed organic mass, the stuff that would be used to form a Reaper.

"Shepard, it's quiet in here." Liara radioed. "Too quiet."

"It's like they're waiting for us." Shepard agreed. "Be wary."

They walked across the chasm and into some sort of wide circular room filled with rows of spikes around the edge.

"Someone needs to hire interior designers." Garrus quipped. "The Reapers need a makeover."

"We'll give them more than that." Shepard muttered.

They found another door and followed the ramp up to the top.

"Shepard, I think we've found it." Anderson called them. "There's a control panel, I'll see what we can make of it."

"Be careful, Anderson." Shepard told him.

"I'll…" The radio broke up into static.

"That can't be good." Garrus stated.

* * *

><p>They moved faster, heading further up until they reached a room above the circular spike area. There was console facing the wall opposite the window that looked over the circular room, at least thirty feet up. There was a pillar in the middle of the room, like a shrine or obelisk.<p>

Shepard and Garrus had made it, this was the centre of the Cradle.

Ahead, they saw Anderson and Liara, they'd made it too.

"Anderson," Shepard called. "Liara."

Anderson turned, but there was something wrong with him. His movements were slow and difficult, like he couldn't move of his own accord.

"Shepard…" He grunted, straining with the effort. "I can't…"

Liara seemed to be struggling too, there was a purple aura around her, like a biotic field.

"I underestimated you, Shepard." A voice announced.

Something crawled into Shepard's skull. "What have you…" He was suddenly unable to move, he could still think and talk, but his actions were not his own. Garrus was also suffering from the same problem.

"I warned you." The Illusive Man sneered. His face was covered in cybernetics, one of his arms was completely mechanical. "Control is means to survival. Control of the Reapers, and of you if necessary."

Anderson fought the control. "They are controlling _you_!"

"I don't think so, Admiral."

Shepard gritted his teeth, trying to fight off the iron grip that had seized him. "Controlling me is a lot different to controlling a Reaper."

"Have a little faith." The Illusive Man smiled. "When we discovered the Mass Relays, there were some who thought they should be destroyed." He spread his arms, taking in the Cradle. "Don't you see?" He demanded. "The Reapers can advance us a thousand fold. Why shouldn't we be able to use their power?"

"Because we're not ready." Shepard clenched his teeth, but his arm lifted without his control, pointing the handgun at Anderson.

"Control is the only way to the end." The Illusive Man added.

"Bullshit!" Garrus hissed. "We destroy them, or they destroy us."

"You're so narrow minded, Garrus." The Illusive Man sneered. "Wasn't it you who believed in sacrificing the Council for the greater good?" He challenged. "I've always wondered if Shepard saved them because Liara told him to. But as you can see," he pointed at Liara, who was still unable to move, "I'm in control."

"You're playing with things you don't understand." Shepard argued. "With power you shouldn't be able to use."

"You'd only use the Reapers to further your own goals." Liara added.

"And the rest of the galaxy would be under your boot." Garrus agreed. "You'd be no better than them."

"I…" The Illusive Man faltered for a moment. "I don't believe that, if we can control them why shouldn't we?"

"He's wrong." Anderson protested. "Don't listen to him."

"And who will you listen to?" The Illusive Man paced around, confident. "An old soldier, stuck in his ways, only able to see the world down the barrel of a gun? A vigilante who can only see in black and white? Your pet alien, who will just replace you when you die?"

"And why should we believe you?" Shepard demanded.

"Look at the power they command." The Illusive man lifted a fist. "Look at what they can do!"

Shepard couldn't stop it. He felt his finger pull the trigger back.

Anderson shuddered and gasped, bleeding from the bullet wound in his stomach. He pitched forwards and lay still in an expanding pool of blood.

Shepard felt the rage boiling inside of him. "I see what they did to you."

"I took what I wanted from them." The Illusive Man showed off his mechanical arm. "Made it my own."

"Listen to yourself," Liara protested, "you're indoctrinated."

"No, I'm in control!" The Illusive Man shouted. "Do you think power like this comes easy? There are sacrifices."

"You've sacrificed too much." Shepard objected.

"I…" He faltered again. "I only wanted what was best for humanity!"

"This isn't about humanity anymore." Garrus shouted. "This is about everything."

"If we destroy the Reapers this ends today." Shepard growled. "But if you can't control them…"

"But I can!" The Illusive Man barked.

"Are you willing to bet the galaxy's existence on it?"

"I… know it will work!" The Illusive Man grated, holding his head in his hands.

"You can't, can you?" Shepard retorted. "They won't let you do it."

"No, no!" The Illusive Man bellowed. "I won't let you stop… them!"

"It's not too late," Shepard told him. "Let us go, we'll do the rest."

The Illusive Man was struggling, the lights on his implants were flaring. "I… can't do that, Shepard."

"Of course you can't!" Liara hissed. "They control you now."

The Illusive Man grimaced, then reached across and pulled Liara's handgun out, forcing her onto her knees with his powers and pointing the gun at her head. With his cybernetics, he made Shepard point his gun at Liara.

"You… you'd undo I've everything I've worked for." The Illusive Man despaired. "I won't let that happen."

"Because of you, humanity is already undone." Shepard argued.

"That's not true!" The Illusive Man yelled.

"They have Earth!" Shepard shouted back. "They've got us fighting each other instead of them!"

"No! I'm going to save humanity!"

"You've done exactly what the Reapers wanted," Shepard continued, "you're still doing it because _they control you_."

"I… they're too strong!"

"You're stronger, break their hold!" Shepard shouted. "Don't let them control you!"

The Illusive Man gazed at Shepard, then at the gun in his hand. "I can't." He almost sobbed.

He looked down, then up. His eyes were ablaze with fury. "DIE!" He screamed, aiming the gun at Shepard, losing control of himself.

Free of his control, Shepard pointed his pistol at the Illusive Man.

A shot boomed.

The Illusive Man staggered, glancing at Anderson's drawn pistol.

Shepard, Garrus and Anderson opened fire, riddling the Illusive Man with bullets.

Liara rolled aside and stood up. With a snarl, she flung a biotic at the Illusive Man, hurling him through the window.

The Illusive Man screamed, then fell horribly silent abruptly.

He'd landed on some of the spikes, impaled through his limbs, torso and the back of his head. Blood dripped down like rain.

Shepard holstered his pistol and walked over to Liara. Apart from bruises and cuts, she was fine. He helped her to her feet before activating the control panel, opening the Cradle's arms and uploading the Signal.

He had a choice, between using the Illusive Man's control signal or using the Prothean Signal to destroy the Reapers.

Shepard chose to destroy them, an eye for an eye. Not just that, a future without the threat of the Reapers, they had fought so hard for it, now it was time to receive it.

He heard Anderson groan as he sat up and leaned against the pillar.

Shepard sat down next to him, along with Liara and Garrus. It had been the longest day of their lives and they were all worn out.

"Commander." Anderson acknowledged.

"We did it." Shepard nodded.

"Yes, we did." Anderson coughed. "It's… quite a view." In front of them, Earth was basked in sunlight, the fight was on the other side. Where the Reapers hadn't been, the land was still green and the sea was glittering blue with swirls of cloud.

"Best seats in the house." Shepard remarked.

"God," Anderson murmured, "it feels like years since I just sat down."

"I think you've earned a rest." Shepard told him.

Anderson grunted, his eyes closing for a moment.

"Stay with me," Shepard encouraged. "We're almost through this."

"You did good, son." Anderson smiled. "You did good. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Sir." Shepard glanced at him. Anderson had slumped, eyes closed. "Anderson?"

No response.

David Anderson was dead.

Shepard sighed and closed his eyes, he felt Liara put a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"Commander?" Hackett's voice was filled with static. "Are you there? Did you upload the Signal?"<p>

"Yes." Shepard confirmed.

"Nothing's happening."

"What?" Liara gasped.

"Fuck!" Garrus cursed.

"Admiral?" Shepard asked.

"We're picking up a signal from nearby." Hackett explained. "Very close to the Cradle, it's jamming the Signal."

"Shepard!" Liara pointed out of the window.

Shepard stared.

They were eye-to-eye with Harbinger.

"Shepard." It growled. "You have caused us enough trouble, you should have let us do what we must."

"We deserve a future, Harbinger. Our own path." Shepard stood up. "You've denied us that path, so we're going to fight for it."

"Organics only create chaos." Harbinger argued. "We create order."

"You create that order out of chaos and destruction." Shepard pointed out. "Whatever you were before, died a long time ago. You have no right to decide our fates. This ends here. Once and for all!"

"I grow tired of this." Harbinger growled. "This exchange is over, I will deal with you."

The room began to descend, down into the circular spike room.

The door opened and they stepped out. The door locked behind them.

With a screech, the spikes receded.

"Oh no!" Liara realised. "They were what you call Dragon's Teeth, they make husks!"

The Illusive Man's corpse fell to the ground. Despite the bloody wounds, he stood up and staggered towards them, almost like a zombie.

"Shepard…" He rasped desperately. "Help… me!"

He writhed and began to scream as blue light erupted from his body. His skin began to peel away from the metallic skeleton underneath. Armour began to form on the silver metal, along with shields and tech-armour.

Long claws sprang from his fingers and feet, two mini-guns, one for each arm, sprang out of their casings, a pair of missile launchers came out of his shoulder blades.

Then it glared at them, a barely human skull. The hand reached up and tore the face off, revealing the bloodied silver metal. It still had the Illusive Man's eyes.

It raised the guns and opened fire, the squad dived out of the way.

"I am Harbinger." The husk declared, with hints of the Illusive Man's voice. "And your planet is mine!"

The missiles fired, cluster missiles streaked across the room and whizzed towards them. They narrowly avoided them and opened fire. Bullets pinged off the husk' shields and armour.

"You fight against inevitability." The husk goaded, clanking forwards and firing the mini-guns.

Shepard rolled aside and fired his rifle at its head, bullets pinged off again. Garrus lobbed a grenade, damaging the shields, but only slightly.

Liara lobbed biotic after biotic, only making the husk pause.

"Concentrate fire!" Shepard bellowed. "This ends here!"

"Yes it does." The husk agreed. "With your death."

"Keep hitting it!" Garrus yelled.

The husk's shields were too strong for small arms fire, they need to weaken it somehow.

Garrus threw his last grenade, the husk batted it aside and advanced again, mini-guns chattering. Shepard ran out of its way as it swiped with its claws. He fired a tech-attack, which merely dissipated on its armour.

Liara ripped a conduit off the wall with her biotics and flung it at the husk.

It staggered, the device exploded and caused some damage.

"Fire now!" Liara shouted.

The husk began to take damage, bullets dented and penetrated its armour.

It stumbled and glared at them.

Harbinger's voice filled the room. "You continue to irritate me, Shepard." It boomed. "I will finish this, personally." The husk began to writhe as its lights and eyes glowed yellow. "Assuming direct control."

The husk began to change before their eyes, the blades were enhanced with weapons like omni-blades, the husk began to hover and a beam weapon like the human-Reaper's appeared in its mouth.

The husk grew larger, a head taller than Garrus, and faced them again.

It charged, like a Vanguard, straight at Shepard.

Shepard rolled aside and ran out of its way.

The husk hovered towards him. "Struggle if you must." Harbinger taunted. "Your life will be mine soon enough. I will enjoy killing you."

"Like the trillions you killed before?" Shepard shouted back. "This is for them and every species in the galaxy!"

The husk fired the beam, forcing them to duck as it cut a swath across the room. The missiles fired again, making them run to avoid them.

"You're end is at hand, Shepard." Harbinger announced. "You have fought in vain."

"You will die today!" Shepard bellowed. "Your reign over us ends now!"

They continued to fight, but the husk would never tire.

The beam sliced across the room again, nearly cutting Shepard's head off. It charged in Liara direction, only slowed by the biotic she flung at it get away. Garrus open fire, down to his last clips. The husk turned and fired the missiles, the explosion flung the turian across the room.

Garrus staggered to his feet, bruised more than injured, and opened fire again. Liara cursed as her SMG clicked uselessly in her hands, out of clips. She threw it at the husk and pulled out her pistol, firing rapidly.

It charged again, Shepard narrowly managed to dodge.

Garrus took aim and fired, hitting the husk in the chest, in its core.

The husk opened fire, forcing Garrus into cover.

But its shields were down.

The husk staggered as Liara grabbed it with a biotic field.

"Now, Shepard!" She yelled as she held the husk in place.

Shepard leapt forwards, sprinting and activating his omni-blade.

He fired his rifle at the husk's arm as it rose, blowing it off.

With a fury filled bellow, he swung the blade.

The husk's head separated from its shoulders and fell to the ground. The husk's body followed a moment later.

Shepard dropped his rifle and turned off the blade. Harbinger had been control, now it was disorientated.

The Cradle thrummed and shook as the Signal flared.

* * *

><p>Harbinger began to fall, weakened by the destruction of his pawn.<p>

The Signal flared, free of control, sweeping across Earth.

Everywhere, the Reapers felt the touch of their own powers, now their curse, they turned on each other.

Over Earth the Reapers began to fire on one another, or even ram and crash into each other.

Weakened and insane, they were easy targets for the fleets and armies.

The Reapers that had loyally served Harbinger found their leader, and began to rip it apart, one of them simply howled and rammed into Harbinger, ripping the bigger Reaper in half. The explosion rocked the Cradle, severely damaging it, adding to the damage done by the signal.

But it was a victory, the Reapers were finished.

* * *

><p>"Shepard." Garrus found Shepard and Liara sat against a piece of debris, their arms around each other. Garrus sat down heavily. "The Reapers are destroying each other, but…" He shook his head. "There is no way off this station.<p>

"We did what we had to, Garrus." Shepard sounded a little pained, but he could accept this. "We saved the galaxy, that's all anyone could ask of us."

"It just doesn't seem… fair to go out this way."

"I know." Shepard kissed Liara. "But whatever happens, you two made me proud."

"John…" Liara began.

"I know." He smiled.

* * *

><p>The Cradle began to break apart as the Signal destroyed the Reaper minds within. On Earth, the infantry fought to defend Westminister, it was under threat. Soldiers and tanks advanced towards Reaper forces. A couple of Alliance marines took cover behind some debris, opening fire on the husks. One of them fired at a Destroyer descending on their postion.<p>

The Destroyer suddenly turned as a wave of green energy swept through the city. The Reaper staggered and turned its weapon on another Reaper. They began to rip each other apart. Within moments, London was full of dead Reapers. The soldiers cheered, watching the sky as the Signal stormed over the planet.

The Signal swept through the Sol system and into the Charon Relay.

The Relay discs began to spin rapidly. A green burst shot through and into the next system, a flare of energy enveloped the system, hitting any Reapers within.

Across the galaxy, the Signal spread through every Mass Relay, every system, even the Citadel. The Signal entered Dark Space and wiped across the void, spelling the doom of any Reapers still there.

Every Reaper felt their indoctrination turn on them, they began to kill each other. They were easy prey for the organics too, every Reaper died that night.

The Cradle began to fall, crushing some of the Reapers below. It would land in the ocean below, causing massive tidal waves. But it began to break up in the atmosphere, and Reapers were attacking it before being destroyed. At least the impacts would be less severe.

Most of it was harmless and simply sunk, bigger pieces landed too and caused large waves, but none big enough to cause a tidal wave large enough to threaten people.

Within an hour, the Cradle was no more, and neither were the Reapers.

But at what cost?

* * *

><p>The Alliance rescue teams were combing the wreckage that had washed up in the Bahamas. But they had little hope.<p>

Hackett helped them, he owed that much to Shepard, everyone did.

"Sir." One of the humans picked up a battered assault rifle, a Valkyrie.

"We've found something." Two of them were working a piece of wreckage loose. With effort, it came free.

Hackett peered inside.

There was a body lying there.

One of the marines moved in and examined the body.

It moved with a groan. The marine helped him up and out of the wreckage.

Garrus Vakarian limped out into the early morning sunlight. He was bruised and bleeding, but unharmed otherwise.

"Admiral Hackett?" He wondered aloud.

"Yes, soldier." Hackett saluted him. "Garrus Vakarian, correct?"

"Yeah," Garrus nodded, "where's Shepard and Liara?"

Hackett lowered his head. "We can't find them, Garrus." He put a hand on the turian's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Garrus. Even if they survived the impact, they likely went down with the rest of the station."

Garrus looked him in the eye, then shook his head. "No." He stated. "They're alive, I know they are." He turned away, limping across the beach. "Shepard!" He shouted. "Liara!" He brushed off a medic trying to harass him and carried on calling.

"Garrus." Hackett called, Garrus stopped. "I'm sorry."

Hackett began to walk away, Garrus didn't.

"Sir!" One of the techs yelled, Hackett wondered if Garrus had been heavily injured and they hadn't noticed, maybe he was dying.

But Garrus was staring at something.

Hackett followed his line of sight and saw a piece of wreckage shuddering, a purple tinge to it.

The heavy plate crashed forwards, kicking up sand and dust.

Something staggered out, no, two things.

From the wreckage came Shepard and Liara, supporting one another, both superficially injured but alive.

How they'd survived was another stroke of luck that only Shepard could have achieved, but it was a damn good one.

* * *

><p>After a few weeks, they had recovered. It was difficult to keep their friends away. They practically charged into the hospital, Wrex had been prepared to blow a hole in the wall. At least he only broke the doors down.<p>

The celebrations were held on the Citadel, as Earth was being fixed up.

There was just one last bit for courage for Shepard to muster, he made up his mind for certain when he walked into a jewellers.

He quickly returned to Liara and asked her to marry him. There was no tension, she said yes immediately.

They were married in the Presidium, with Garrus as the best man, Grunt as the krogan who finished off the cake.

Shepard kept his eye on the property markets, Garrus knew what he was up to. They agreed on something, just before the formalities began.

A few months later, the Council summoned them to the Citadel, to discuss their futures.

Shepard, Liara and Garrus were heroes now, starting from nothing to become saviours of the galaxy.

"Commander Shepard," the asari Councillor greeted them, "Doctor T'Soni, Lieutenant Commander Vakarian. We have gathered you here today to recognise your immense efforts in stopping Harbinger and the Reapers. We all owe you a debt we can never truly repay."

"There have been many great sacrifices," the turian Councillor said. "We will remember them, especially David Anderson, who gave his life to stop the Reapers."

"Commander Shepard," the salarian Councillor began. "Given all that you have done, is there any reward that we can give you?"

They were perhaps expecting a planet or a ship or riches. The reply surprised them.

"No, thank you." Shepard answered. "I'm leaving the military."

They were stunned, apart from Garrus who had known Shepard's intentions.

"Then…" The new human Councillor stammered. "Who will…"

"Replace me?" Shepard wasn't offended. "I can think of someone who would make a great Spectre." He nodded at his candidate.

Garrus stepped forwards. "I volunteer to join the Spectres." He announced. "I have served under Shepard, and been his friend, I know what it takes to keep the galaxy safe now."

"An excellent choice." The asari Councillor accepted. "It will take a few weeks to finish formalities, but we can guarantee him a place."

"What about you, Shepard?" The salarian Councillor asked.

Shepard smiled, glancing at Liara. "Somewhere to live." He replied enigmatically.

* * *

><p>With the credits they had, they bought a small ship, not a warship. Where it was headed was a matter of debate, but it was a start.<p>

Onboard, Shepard checked his things, no weapons aside from a sidearm, no armour apart from a discreet kinetic barrier. Most of it was just for a new, simple life.

"Are you sure about this, John?" Liara entered the cabin, carrying her belongings.

"Definitely." He assured her. "We deserve this, a life together." He held her hands, looking into her eyes. "I made you promise, marriage, a life and lots of little blue children."

Liara laughed, liking the sound of that. "And where will we do that?"

Shepard considered. "Somewhere far away." He replied, kissing her. "Someplace where we can live in peace and happiness."

He'd run out of soppy lines, so to hell with them. He led her to the bed, now a simple life with each other was something to savour now that they had earned it.

* * *

><p>Joker began to plot courses as Garrus walked into the cockpit. He'd wondered what life would be like without a Spectre in command, but now he had another one.<p>

Commander Garrus Vakarian, a Spectre.

"So," Joker turned the swivel chair round, "where to first?"

"There's a little issue on Tuntau," Garrus told him, "some mercs and the promise of a nice tidy fire fight. Easy first job for a Spectre and the drinks are on me."

"Yeah, easy job for the pilot too." Joker spotted a small ship taking off from the Citadel. "That's Shepard's ship, right?"

"Yeah." Garrus smiled. "We'll have to pay him a surprise visit at some point. But first, tidy gunfight on Tuntau."

"You got it, Commander."

* * *

><p>A few years later, Garrus launched his surprise visit, finding that Shepard had settled down on Eden Prime, a small home outside Constant. It was only fair to bring friends too, their companions over the years. Tiah and Alis were already walking and talking, being six in human years. Tiah was very much like her mother, always reading and learning, Alis was more like Shepard, she loved adventure and exploring.<p>

Garrus spent some time telling them stories and they dubbed him "Uncle Garrus", he liked that. They also called Tali their aunt, since it seemed pretty clear that she and Garrus were in a relationship.

Liara was working as a professor at Contant's university, a history teacher. She was also happy to be near the Prothean ruins. They were well off, the Council wouldn't let them go bankrupt, not that they were big spenders, food cost less than guns.

"So," Garrus accepted the offered drink, "how's life in the slow lane? As Ashley put it."

"Better than I imagined." Shepard answered. "I don't have to duck as much. How about you? Life in the fast lane?"

"Hectic, but good." Garrus smirked. "Being a Spectre has its perks, we get into trouble but we're doing well."

"Glad to hear it." Shepard smiled.

"I've picked up a few allies in my missions," Garrus added, "much like you did."

"Dad?" That was probably Alis, she'd probably found something or wanted a story.

"Duty calls." Shepard shrugged. "It's getting late anyway."

Liara walked in, carrying an assortment of datapads. "Sorry," she smiled, "I'm still sorting everything out."

"Alis wants a story, I guess." Shepard told her. "Last time you told her one, she was pretending to snipe for most of the day." He told Garrus.

"I'm a bad influence." Garrus laughed.

"Tiah's much calmer." Liara shrugged. "I just give her a history book to read, she gets through them fast."

"Dad?" Alis called again.

Shepard stood up. "Like I said, duty calls." He left the room and found Alis sat in the kitchen. "Can't sleep?" He asked.

"I want a story." She told him. "You and Uncle Garrus tell good stories, like the one where you and mum took on a Reaper."

"Uncle Garrus likes his wild tales." Shepard chuckled. "Alright then, I'll tell you a story."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Finally, an ending that Shepard bloody well deserves, him and his friends. <em>**

**_Apparently, according to concept art, the Illusive Man was going to become a husk and fight Shepard. _**

**_It seems only fair that Garrus should become a Spectre, especially if Shepard leaves the military to settle down. I am planning a sort of sequel for his first mission as a Spectre. _**

**_I hope you all like this ending, let me know if you don't, but at least it's better than ME3's original ending._**


	29. Epilogues

**John Shepard**

As promised, he left the military and settled down with Liara on a quiet world in Citadel space. Whilst his likeness is still used for Alliance recruitment programmes and he is hailed as a hero, the former Spectre stays out of the limelight.

**Liara T'Soni/Shepard **

Liara settled down with Shepard, the two have started a family. Liara works as a professor of Prothean history. The two heroes have a steady relationship and marriage now that they can settle down in peaceful times and currently have two children.

**Garrus Vakarian**

Since his initiation, Garrus has become a highly successful Spectre under the codename Archangel. He is sometimes to referred to as "the second coming of Shepard" due to his sniping skills and team building habits. He is still in a relationship with Tali.

**Tali'Zorah vas Neema**

Contrary to expectations, Tali stayed onboard the Normandy and works with Garrus as a tech expert. Following Shepard's advice, she did claim a spot on Rannoch, but never tends to stay on the planet for very long. Joker thinks that it should be called "land-sickness".

**Ashley Williams**

The disgrace of her ancestors is distant memory, Ashley is another successful Spectre. She tends to operate with a small team, but sometimes works with Garrus.

**Javik**

Liara and Javik finished their book "travels with a Prothean". After the Reaper War, he began to travel the galaxy, seeing what civilisation was like without the threat of the Reapers. He is rarely seen or heard from, but has occasionally been seen in Garrus' squad during operations.

**James Vega**

As an N7 operative, James is currently undergoing training, breaking records too. He is a skilled soldier and has leadership potential. He has been assigned his own squad and is expected to enter action soon.

**Urdnot Grunt**

Grunt returned to Tuchanka, earning the attention of many female krogan. He is Wrex's second in command and something of a military leader. His part in the final battle has earned him enormous respect not just among the krogan, but throughout other species.

**Urdnot Wrex**

Many feared that the krogan would start a war, but Wrex kept them in check, using Shepard as an example to them all. Since the curing of the Genophage, the word Shepard has come to mean "hero" to the krogan. Wrex and Eve are already looking after a clutch of newborn krogan.

**Mordin Solus**

With the Genophage cured, Mordin decided to stop for once. He did end up somewhere tropical, studying seashells in his spare time.

**Jacob Taylor**

Jacob drifted for a while before settling down with an ex-Cerberus scientist. The two of them have a baby, Jacob had to persuade his wife not to name the child after Shepard.

**Miranda Lawson**

Having saved her sister again, Miranda located the foster family that Oriana had stayed with. Having seen a great deal of bloodshed and an end to the Reaper threat, Miranda decided to stay with them too.

**Zaeed Massani**

Once a mercenary, always a mercenary. Zaeed is now a loyal ally to Aria T'Loak, and has more or less taken over the Blue Suns. Law enforcement never wants to take him on, either because he helped Shepard or because he's just so hard to kill.

**Kasumi Goto**

Kasumi never entered the limelight, she didn't want to. She quietly slipped away and faded. That said, many valuables have gone missing without any explanation. In particular, the original head of the Statue of Liberty has gone missing again.

**Jack (Subject Zero)**

Still trying to keep the swearing at bay, Jack is a full time teacher and instructor at Grissom academy. Cerberus has not tried to go after her again, fearful not only of her powers, but of the repercussions of hunting down a now famous ally of Shepard.

**Legion**

The former infiltrator has become something of a messiah for the geth and a leader. Legion has led the geth in maintaining peace with organics. Geth technology and advances have begun to appear in other civilisations, but AI development is still discouraged, not out of fear, but out of respect.

**Samara**

The asari Justicar still travels the galaxy, but stops more often to make sure that her daughter is alright. Samara sometimes assists Garrus, but tends to work alone as she did before meeting Shepard.

**Thane Krios**

Thane managed to live long enough for the hanar to develop treatments for Kepral's Syndrome. His illness is beginning to fade and it is likely that he will survive to live a normal lifespan. Kolyat does not seek to follow in his footsteps as an assassin, knowing that Thane never wanted that life for him.

**Jeff "Joker" Moreau **

Joker's daring piloting has not been forgotten, least of all by the fleets during the final battle. The Normandy still sees action with a Spectre onboard, Garrus uses it as his ship, but requested that Joker remain as the pilot.

**EDI**

Although AI development is still banned, EDI has been allowed to live, given her part in the war. She still acts as the Normandy's AI and has been invaluable to the new Spectre onboard.

**Teriss Aemis**

Teriss found her surviving daughters save and sound on a colony. She has come to terms with Tesha's death, although she still misses her. Teriss still pilots her gunship for the Normandy, working with Garrus and his team, she still keeps the callsign of Talon.

**Randall Ezno**

The former Cerberus operative's death was not in vain. His intel was crucial to the Alliance and gave Shepard the data he needed, he also managed to avenge his lost friend. Despite his Cerberus ties, he was honoured by the Alliance.

**Solana Vakarian**

The loss of so many friends was painful, bur Solana came to terms with her loss. Since the end of the war, she has entered the limelight as the sister of one of Shepard's companions and a Spectre. Solana has recently written a book that documents the fall and liberation of Palaven.

**Malik Vakarian**

Garrus' father has found a new talent and has opened a garage and workshop. Malik keeps in touch with his son, although he stays out of the spotlight and lets his children earn the fame.

**Zaal'Koris vas Quib-Quib**

Koris was the first quarian to engage in peace talks with the geth, he succeeded too. He has taken the job of overseeing construction of farms on Rannoch and has decided to leave the fleet in Gerrel's hands, even if they had their differences.

**Han'Gerrel**

Gerrel's warmongering did lead to some friction between his people and the geth, but it also earned him command of the new quarian military fleet.

**Shaala'Raan vas Tonbay**

Shaala'Raan was offered a seat on the Council, which she accepted. She is the first quarian to become a Council member, thus her race has become one of the Council races. She is noteworthy for using holograms a lot, since she alternates between building a home on Rannoch and settling political disputes.

**Armando Bailey**

Bailey retook the position of C-Sec commander after the Executor's death during Udina's attempted coup. Even if the pay is lower, he prefers it. At the very least, he is happy to avoid politics.

**Padok Wiks**

Wiks was injured during the fighting on Sur'Kesh, but recovered enough to take part in the battle for Earth. He was injured again, but weirdly ended up fighting alongside a krogan squad, which reclaimed Canary Wharf with his help.

**The Systems Alliance**

Humanity has become a major player in the Galaxy, having been at the front of the Reaper War. Since the Arrival, Earth has recovered, steadily. Hackett turned down the offer of a Council seat, citing that he belonged in the fleet.

**The turians**

Since the battle for Palaven, the turians and krogan have settled their differences. The turian fleet is still the largest and strongest. Primarch Victus, despite his lack of experience and disdain for politics, has become a popular and capable leader of his people.

**The asari**

Losing Thessia was a crippling loss for the asari, but with the war over, Thessia is recovering from the onslaught. With little choice, the asari have admitted to keeping the beacon secret and have shared their advances and knowledge with the other races.

**The salarians**

Like the turians, the salarians have put their issues with the krogan aside. Major Kirrahe is a celebrated hero among the salarians. Recently, a new university has been opened, one made in Mordin Solus' honour.

**The krogan**

Against all odds, the krogan have managed to integrate into galactic society, there is even talk of a seat on the Council being offered to them. There are still problems among the Clans, but these are only small arguments with the occasional shot fired. Tuchanka is beginning to change, the krogan are entering a golden age.

**The batarians**

Khar'shan was heavily damaged, and the Bahak system had already been annihilated. The batarians are still bitter towards humanity and the Council, but still refrain from hostilities.

**The Rachni**

The Rachni vanished after the final battle, retreating to an unknown system. They have been sighted now and then, but do not attack other ships. The Queen appears to have kept her word and is avoiding war.

**The elcor**

The elcor who gave their lives during the final battle for Earth were given honours by the other races. There is talk of a Council seat, but the elcor are patient, they are currently helping colonies to rebuild.

**The volus**

Even the volus came to the aid of the other races, their bombing fleet suffered heavy losses, but without them Earth would never have been retaken so quickly. The volus still refrain from military roles, but have become a Council race and are regarded as excellent traders and negotiators.

**The hanar**

Thanks to Shepard's efforts, the hanar were mostly left alone during the war. They offered their support and helped to retake Earth. The hanar made a monument to Javik on their homeworld, seeing him as a sort of god. Whether Javik approves or not is a mystery.

**The drell**

Recent advances in medicine have yielded treatments for Kepral's Syndrome, but not permanent cures, yet. The drell have begun to prosper and several colonies have appeared on arid and desert worlds.

**The quarians**

Their quest for a homeworld finally over, the migrant fleet is now a military fleet for Rannoch. With the geth at their sides and not at their throats, the quarians have begun to spread out and build colonies. A Council seat has been offered and accepted by Shaala'Raan'vas'Tonbay.

**The vorcha**

The vorcha are still something of a menace, but a tolerated one. Their efforts in the final battle were not unrewarded. Aria T'Loak and the krogan no longer see them as cannon fodder.

**The Raloi and the Yahg **

The Reapers did not annihilate the two pre-spaceflight races, as they wanted something to kill later, they only took some of them to make into husks due to Shepard's increasing number of victories against the Reapers. The two species are still pre-spaceflight, but the Raloi are showing signs of technological advancement that leads into spacecraft.

**Cerberus**

The sinister organisation has returned to the shadows, still keeping the Illusive Man's ideals. Although crippled, they are still a threat and rumour has it that they are planning something.


	30. Alternative events

_**This is just a list of alternatives if Shepard had been a renegade or something else during Mass Effect Inferno or from another background, I'll put down specifics whenever I can, in brackets. This probably won't be in a specific order either.**_

* * *

><p>1. The most obvious one is who survived Virmire, there wouldn't be much difference on the storyline. (ME1)<p>

2. If Shepard saved the Collector Base, then he/she would have fought through it to reach the Reaper brain, there would be no fight with a Reaper. (ME2)

3. If Garrus did not survive the suicide mission, he would be replaced by a turian sentinel who would volunteer to join Shepard. (ME2)

4. If Tali died during the suicide mission, her place would be taken by an engineer who could be recruited on the Citadel. (ME2)

5. If Grunt did not survive, or was not loyal and died fighting the Ravagers, he would be replaced by a soldier from another race/background. (ME2)

6. If Shepard did not help Liara to find the Shadow Broker, she managed to track him down, but Feron was killed and Vasir managed to kill the hostage. (ME2-Lair of the Shadow Broker)

7. Overlord was not stopped and the VI infection managed to take over the planet. Cerberus sent a task force to obliterate the facilities from orbit with nuclear weapons. (ME2-Overlord)

8. If Miranda did not survive the suicide mission, then Jacob would give Shepard the Kahje mission and attempt to save Oriana, although he would die in the process. If Jacob died, Miranda delivers the message and attempts to save Oriana. If Shepard helped Miranda to keep Oriana safe, then her foster parents survive. If not, they die. If both died, then Shepard would receive an anonymous message from Randall that reveals the trouble on Kahje. (ME2)

9. If Kirrahe died on Virmire, then the salarian Councillor is killed by Kai Leng. (ME1)

10. If Wrex died on Virmire, then he is replaced by Urdnot Wreave, who does not create lasting peace, provided that Shepard helps the krogan. (ME1)

11. If both Mordin and Maelon died and the data was wiped, then Padok Wiks would have exposed the female krogan and helped Eve, although she would have died after the cure was released. If the data was kept, then Eve would have survived. (ME2)

12. If Thane died, then his son would have come after Shepard, believing that he/she got Thane killed. Shepard could either defuse the situation or kill Kolyat. (ME2)

13. If Zaeed died, then a Blue Suns Commander helps the team on Omega. (ME2)

14. If Kasumi died, Shepard is forced to break into the vault, fight through the mechs and kill the Councillor. (ME2)

15. If Shepard sacrificed the Council, then the new Councillors are slightly bitter but still trust him/her. However, if Shepard let them die, then they are resentful. (ME1)

16. If Legion died, the geth dreadnaught is destroyed by the quarians with heavy casualties and there is no way to create peace. (ME2)

17. If Shepard sold Legion, the geth would have been reprogrammed and used as an assassin on Omega. Shepard would have fought it instead of Kai Leng. (ME2)

18. If Jack died, Shepard learns that Grissom Academy was taken by Cerberus. If Shepard did not fulfil her loyalty mission, Pragia reopens as a biotic torture camp. If Jack survived but was her mission was not completed, then she is taken back to Pragia and turned into a biotic super soldier that would have been fought on Kahje instead of Kai Leng. Liara would manage to evict her the same way she does to Kai Leng, but is dragged out by Subject Zero and dies. Any other companion is killed and the other squad has to find a way to help Shepard. Subject Zero is killed when the base is destroyed. (ME2)

19. If the Normandy crew died, then Joker is somewhat bitter towards the Commander. (ME2)

20. If the Normandy was not upgraded with enhanced armour, shields and the Thanix cannon, then it is destroyed during the final battle. (ME2)

21. If Shepard did not destroy the Bahak system to delay the Reapers, then Khar'shan is completely destroyed and the fight is a lot harder. The batarian fleet is unavailable as an ally. (ME2-Arrival)

22. If Balak was killed, then the batarians are unwilling to help Shepard. He/she must enter the facility alone. (ME1-Bring down the sky)

23. If Charn survived and Balak was killed, then he appears on Khar'shan and helps Shepard. He dies during the assault. (ME1-Bring down the sky)

24. If Shepard did not complete _Bring down the sky_, Terra Nova is destroyed and Balak survived but Charn was killed for disobeying orders. Colonists and refugees are bitter towards the Alliance, the batarians are unavailable as allies. (ME1-Bring down the sky)

25. If Shepard does not comfort Tesha during her final moments, the Teriss will not save the squad from Kai Leng and Shepard is forced to chose a sacrifice unless he/she can stall for time, in which case a Reaper distracts Kai Leng and makes him go after the data. Teriss does not join the Normandy, making fights harder and removing a war asset. (ME3)

26. If Shepard does not stop Samara from committing suicide, then Falere commits suicide too, unable to live with so many lost friends and family. (ME3)

27. If Shepard did not save the Rachni Queen, he/she discovers that some scientists escaped Peak 15 and attempted to clone a Queen, but the Queen went mad and fled. She was indoctrinated by the Reapers. If Shepard releases her, then she betrays the fleets and attacks them from behind, causing significant damage and destroying the _Tukara_. (ME3)

28. If the _Destiny Ascension _was destroyed, then the _Cybele _replaces it, but is destroyed during the final battle. (ME1)

29. If Talitha survived, she meets Shepard at Apollo's Café and the two of them can talk, Talitha tells Shepard that she has made a full recovery and is working on the Citadel. (ME1-Colonist background)

30. Shepard can met his/her mother on the Citadel, they talk about current affairs. The conversation can go well or not depending on whether Shepard is paragon or renegade. (ME1-Spacer background)

31. Shepard's actions on Torfan (based on the story "Torfan" by Livinglow-well worth a read and it needs reviews) make the batarians enemies. (ME1-Ruthless background)

32. If Shepard saved Corporal Toombs, he/she finds that he has joined C-Sec. If he died, then he is mentioned on a memorial. (ME1-Sole Survivor)

33. If Shepard helped the Reds to free their imprisoned member, they provide him/her with some money and cause trouble for C-Sec. (ME1-Earthborn)

34. If Shepard brings a small fleet to the finale, they are wiped out, including _Everest_. (ME3)

35. Shepard can lose his/her allies in the final assault, depending on whether they are original and loyal characters and how well prepared Hammer is. (ME2-3)

36. Shepard dies if all of his/her companions are killed, when the Cradle crashes to Earth, Shepard is found dead. (ME2-3)

37. If Shepard was not reinstated or was a renegade, then he/she is not made a Spectre. This doesn't make much difference, but people are less respectful. (ME2-3)

38. If Liara is not romanced, she enters a tentative relationship with James, which eventually works out. If Garrus is not romanced, or Tali is, then Liara begins a relationship with him instead of James. (ME1-3)

39. If Garrus is romanced and Tali is not, then Tali starts a relationship with Kal'Reegar, provided he survived Haestrom. (ME2)

40. If Ashley is not romanced, Liara romances Garrus or Shepard, then she dates James. (ME1-3)

41. If Kaidan is not romanced then he begins a relationship with Liara, provided that she is free. (ME1-3)

42. If Shepard cannot use charm/intimidate on the Illusive Man on the Cradle, then the hostage is killed before TIM is shot. If Shepard lost his/her companions during the assault, then Anderson is instantly killed and Shepard shoots TIM. (ME3)

43. If Shepard uses TIM's version of the Signal, then the Reapers are placed under his/her control. Depending on whether Shepard is paragon or renegade, the Reapers are either used to enforce peace (in a bad way) or to dominate and kill anyone who resists. (ME3)

44. If Shepard was unfaithful to Liara, then she is angry towards him/her. The relationship can be repaired through effort. The same goes for the others. (ME1-2-3)

45. If Miranda survived but was not made loyal, then she manages to save Oriana but is dies due to her wounds. (ME2)

46. If Shepard was not prepared beyond a decent score (let's say 1000), then the Signal fails on the Cradle and the Reapers win. (ME3)

47. If Shepard destroyed the Collector base and did not upgrade the Normandy with a Thanix cannon, and managed to recruit Teriss, then he/she will have to chose between the Reaper brain or Teriss. Not collecting the Reaper brain results in Palaven being lost, taking the brain results in Teriss' death. (ME2-3)

48. If Teriss is not recruited, then the Normandy disables UDI without much change to the plot. For the final assault, several gunships EMP the Destroyers, but most of them are shot down. (ME3)

49. Shepard can chose not to cure the Genophage, which makes Wrex or Wreave come after him/her and subsequently die. The krogan race does not help Shepard and eventually dies out. (ME3)

50. If Shepard does not awaken Javik, Cerberus attempts to and kills the Prothean by accident. (ME3-From Ashes)

51. If Shepard does not complete the Kahje mission, the planet is attacked by the Reapers and subsequently falls. A cure is not made for Kepral's Syndrome. (ME3)

52. Not completing the Ardat-Yakshi monastery mission results in the deaths of Samara and Falere. (ME3)

53. If Shepard is unable to convince Ashley/Kaidan to stand down when pursuing Udina, then Shepard or a squad member is forced to shoot Ashley/Kaidan. Udina then kills the two Councillors before Shepard shoots him. (ME3)

54. If Shepard does not pursue a romance and survives the Cradle falling to Earth, then he breaks out of the wreckage by him/herself. (ME3)

55. If Shepard was a renegade and destroys the Reapers, the galaxy only has a temporary pause before tensions start to rise and Shepard stays with the military. Garrus does not become a Spectre. (ME1-2-3)

56. If Shepard romances Garrus and settles down with him, then Kaidan/Ashley, Liara or Tali can made into Spectres. If Shepard romances Tali, then Garrus, Kaidan/Ashley or Liara can become Spectres and so on and so forth. (ME1-2-3)

57. If Shepard does not go straight to Earth after Cronos station, then Earth is almost completely wrecked, whilst the final battle can be successful, it never recovers. (ME3)

58. If Shepard saved Morinth and killed Samara, or if Samara did not survive the suicide mission, then Falere dies in the Ardat-Yakshi monastery with Rila. Morinth continues her killing spree. (ME2)

59. If Shepard completed Overlord and allowed the experiments to continue, Cerberus makes a breakthrough in controlling AI and geth appear in their ranks. The geth over Rannoch can be controlled and made into slaves again. (ME2-Overlord)

60. If Shepard completed Overlord and stopped the experiments, David Archer joins Grissom Academy. The Illusive Man attempts to have Gavin Archer killed, but the scientist flees. (ME2-Overlord)

61. If Jacob and Miranda (or one or the other) survived the suicide mission, but were not loyal, then they die during the Kajhe mission if Shepard attempts it. (ME2)

62. If neither Miranda or Jacob survived the suicide mission, then Shepard can either kill Henry Lawson (but end up mortally wounding Oriana too) or can let him go. (ME2-3)

63. If Shepard does not help Aria to retake Omega, then Adjutants appear more often and the Terminus fleet does not help during the final battle. (ME3)

64. During the interrogation on Cronos station (if Shepard has no love interest then a trusted/favourite/most used squad mate is tortured instead), if Shepard breaks and tells the Illusive Man where the fleet is, Cerberus attacks and damages it. (ME3)

64. Of course, should Shepard die during the suicide mission, then no-one is left to unite the galaxy and the Reapers win. (ME2)

65. On Khar'shan, if Shepard did not save the geth dreadnaught or destroyed the geth, then the quarian fleet helps to destroy the Reaper, but they take heavy casualties. (ME3)

66. If Grunt died during the suicide mission, then another krogan replaces him to lead Aralakh Company, this leader dies to buy Shepard time to escape. (ME2)

67. If Shepard pursued a love interest but later rejected them, then they leave him/her after the final battle or find someone else depending on when they were rejected. (ME1-2-3)

68. If Udina killed the Councillors, when Shepard breaks into the vault, he/she is confronted by Bailey and can end up killing him. (ME3)

69. Not taking Liara to Eden Prime leaves her feeling a little sour, but she can get over it. (ME3-From Ashes)

70. If Javik was to touch his memory shard (I forgot to mention this, I admit), then he does not help Liara to write a book. If he survives the final battle, he finds the place where his friends died and commits suicide to join them.

71. If Shepard never recruited Zaeed, then he attempts to get revenge on his own and dies. Vido Santiago appears as the Blue Suns Commander on Omega. (ME2-The price of revenge)

72. If Kasumi was never recruited, then she attempts to steal the graybox by herself but is forced to destroy it and fake her own death to escape Donovan Hock. She is never heard from again. (ME2-Stolen memory)

73. If Shepard does end up killing the asari Councillor or Bailey when raiding the vault, the Citadel is reluctant to help Shepard and gives less support. (ME3)

74. During the final assault, Shepard can choose not to use EMPs and Cains on the two Destroyers and can just send Hammer to launch an attack. Hammer takes heavy casualties before the two Destroyers are taken out, including Teriss if she is present or Cortez if she is not. (ME3)

75. Losing Palaven, his family with it, depresses Garrus. He loses whatever positive emotions he had and focuses on blindly avenging his people. He cannot be romanced and is likely to die in the final assault, nor does he become a Spectre if he survives. (ME3)

76. Not giving Liara the Cipher and Prothean visions doesn't change much, although she regains her love of studying the Protheans if Shepard gives her the visions and Ciphers. It also gives her reason to share her own memories. If Shepard does not share the Prothean knowledge, then she does not share her memories unless romanced. (ME3)

77. If Garrus killed Sidonis, he encourages Randall to get revenge and is more violent than usual, he is also fairly bitter as revenge hasn't really helped, unlike the good natured and friendly Garrus in _Inferno_. (ME2)

78. If Tali died in the suicide mission, but Garrus did not, then he misses her and carves her name into his visor to remember her, provided that she wasn't romanced by Shepard. (ME2)

79. If Garrus died in the suicide mission, was not romanced and Tali survived, then Tali begins to miss him and keeps fragments of his armour from Omega to remember him by. (ME2)

80. If Shepard assaulted that annoying journalist, whose name I can never spell correctly, at every opportunity, then he/she is arrested for assault but is released by Bailey. I Just thought that might be funny. (ME1-2-3)

* * *

><p><em><strong>It's a bit exhaustive, I know. This list is probably the ultimate proof that I think too much. But anyway, for those of you aren't Earth born, war heroes, paragons or Shepards who romanced Liara, this is how things could have gone for your Shepard in Inferno. That doesn't mean that this is fact though, if you want to write a different story for your Shepard, then that's fine by me, this is just what I thought it would be like.<strong>_


End file.
